Crimson Purgatory
by The Ruler's Haven
Summary: Eyes opened to the truth about the world from a young age, Issei had to grow up far faster than what was usual. Armed with the power of the Boosted Gear and the desperation to match, he develops into a force that would shake both the Supernatural world and it's fragile balance to the core. More importantly though, he needed a harem. That'll be fun.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome, all, to Crimson Purgatory. This is my new fic which, alongside Remnant's Revolution, is one that I have been looking forward to writing. I've got ideas for this, but any DxD nut (HAH! See what I did there? Wait, no, come back!) is welcome to give me any details possible on this Universe as though I know a good amount about the DxD Universe, I'm not foolish enough to think I know everything. Thanks for reading this! And PLEASE REVIEW! I need critics to recommend to me any changes!**

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"Come on, come on, come on Issei! We have to hurry!" A small girl with chestnut colored hair and violet eyes shouted at a boy following her. Due to her rather diminutive height and her childish appearance any onlooker wouldn't exactly have been hard pressed to tell she could be no older than eight if asked. She had a white shirt on that proudly proclaimed in bold red letters _Pikachu, I choose you!_ Along with that she was dressed in light blue jeans and some bright white slippers that showed off her newly painted red nails.

"I get it, I'm coming!" The boy following her yelled in response, panting slightly at trying to catch up to the girl. He was dressed in a similar shirt to the girl, though rather than just showing Pikachu it displayed a Charizard breathing out flames along with a Blastoise shooting out water from its mouth and a Venusaur that was a lighter color than the other pokemon, most likely showing that it was about to use the light absorbing move Solarbeam, all against a blue background. Rather than jeans and white slippers, the boy was wearing dark blue pair of shorts and black velcro shoes with image of flames at the back that lit up for a few seconds whenever he took a step. He also had light brown and spiky hair and also held a white DS which was covered with a couple of pink stickers in his left hand that he was trying to make sure wouldn't fall from his hand. He looked a similar age to Irina and had light brown eyes.

"Well come faster!"

"I'm coming! Slow down, the game isn't going to disappear in the three minutes it'll take us to get there! It's nearly thirty minutes until the shop open anyways Irina!"

As the two children shouted each other while running towards the nearest video game store two adults jogged behind them, trying to keep up with the ecstatic kids. Or kid, seeing as Irina was the one running ahead while Issei was lagging behind.

"I knew they were excited but damn! You would think that Irina would stop worrying about getting to the shop early when the shop doesn't open for another-" one of the adults checked his black watch before continuing, "forty three minutes! I knew she was excited from her rapid fire descriptions of the new pokemon game coming out but you would think she would calm down once she realized that there were so many games coming that it would be impossible for it to run out before the both of them got a copy." The speaker was a middle aged adult with a light blue buttoned shirt on and, like his son, had a pair of dark blue shorts on along with a pokemon shirt on.

The other adult laughed sheepishly. "Yeah. She even forgot her DS at Issei's house. Sorry about that Godou-san. And thanks for taking Irina for the week I was gone, I had to do a couple of jobs for the church. I know she can be a handful or even a complete terror at times."

Godou laughed along with him. "It's Godou, just Godou. I'm not one for formalities usually and you're a good friend so it doesn't really matter Touji-san. And don't worry about Irina, she was a delight. Didn't want anything for herself not even a bedroom." He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way to his friend. "She slept with Issei the entire time. In the same room. In the same bed. Right next to each other and cuddling the whole time."

He laughed at Touji's expression which was a mixture of shock at the fact, fear for his daughter's chastity, rage at Issei for daring to sleep with his daughter, and rage at Godou for allowing this. This was all tempered by him face palming himself when he remembered they were still only eight, though when his face was revealed again it showed annoyance at Godou laughing so hard that people were looking at him strangely and beginning to walk just a bit faster to get away from him. One woman even crossed the road to make sure that she didn't go anywhere near Godou.

"Mom, why is that man laughing so hard?"

"Just ignore him and don't go near him Timmy. You might catch something."

Touji's left eye started severely twitching. Timmy? Little Timmy? That sounded like a setup to another bad catholic joke of the pope being a pedophile or priest banging choir boys behind some random sheds even though he was sure, he hoped, that it wasn't true. Meh, he was protestant anyways, and pedophilia as a whole was just a sick and fucked up affair. And Timmy? This is fucking Japan, who in the living hell names a kid Timmy? No, never mind that, who the hell in Asia would name somebody Timmy? Especially when, judging from her skin color at least and the fact that the mom had zero foreign accent on her Japanese, they are a resident of said country on said continent? That kid must be bullied _brutally_ in school. No, never mind the stupidity of some humans on this planet, his brain cells wouldn't be able to understand, wouldn't be able to even conceive, the idiocy of some of them. The fool next to him still laughing included.

"Dammit Godou-san." Touji growled, hand still on face. "They're _eight_."

"I know." He snickered. " But then again, Issei was complaining to me about Irina taking up all the blankets and kicking him out of his own bed in the middle of the night. And even though that happens, he still allows her in the bed because he knows that she'll still get in no matter what he does and the process repeats. Sounds like that they forsook dating and went straight to marriage."

"You're lucky that Izumi didn't hear that." Touji deadpanned. "She'd kick you out of the bedroom till next year."

"Thus proving my point." Godou stated proudly. "Plus why the hell would you think I would state that near my wife? Forget next year, she'll kick me out of the bedroom till the next millenia comes rolling around." He had a pensive look on his face for a moment though. "Hey where did you go anyways? You were gone for a week and only told us to take care of Irina less than an hour beforehand."

Touji hid his wince. He should have known to not bring that up, stupid mistake. Whatever, he'd been trained for this. "You know, the usual baptization," he said, the lie flowing from his mouth easily. "We wouldn't normally leave just for that but it was for a rich person who donates quite a bit to church usually. I was the closest one to the individual so I got called up and told to get there immediately. I wasn't even told until ten minutes before Irina and I came to your house." It was a half truth at best. The client donating to the Church was right but that was because the person was an actual priest who called him up to ask if he could assist in dealing with a fallen angel that was near the city.

Godou didn't seem to believe him. He opened up to ask a couple more questions, which Touji dreaded as he didn't like to lie to him, before Godou was interrupted by the kids.

"Oi, tou-san! Hurry up!"

"You're so _slow_. More like Jiji than tou-san."

"Oi! I'll have you know we are in the best shape." Touji stated proudly, trying to shift away from the topic that they were speaking about. He then looked to Godou's stick figure frame compared to his own more muscular body. "Well, more like I am."

"Oi!" Godou growled and shoved Touji while Touji laughed. "At least I don't smell like a girl wherever I go!"

"I told you time and time again Godou, rosemary perfume is a standard and necessary part of churchware for priests!" The fact that rosemary was very useful for covering up the smell of blood was another important part, but it wasn't like he was going to tell his friend that.

"C'mon we have to get in line!" Irina and Issei shouted.

"Calm down kids. There's a lot of pokemon games shipping, you don't need to worroooohhhhhhhooolllllyyyy _shit_!" Touji's exclamation was justified as a ginormous crowd crowd, which he was sure held more people within it than the population of Kuoh itself, was shown to be in front of the shop, most likely for the Pokemon game since nearly all of them had a Pokemon shirt on them.

Due to his shock, he never even noticed a single shadow in the alley near them shift, a small rustle of wings unfolding, and the light of morning dim ever so slightly. Or at least, he never noticed with his main five senses.

"How popular is this damn game anyways?!" Godou half shouted.

"Far more than expected, that's for sure." Touji said, trying to maintain his composure and failing, though for far many more reasons than just the high amount of people in front of the store.

Something didn't feel right. His instincts honed through countless battles with Devils and Fallen alike were screaming at him right now, sweat pouring down his hands as they itched for his sword which he was able to make invisible as long as he didn't use it with a small wind exorcist spell, which did wonders for actually helping the upper-level exorcists to conceal the existence of magic from the unknowing populace.

He scoured the area around him but couldn't find anything that actually looked out of place. He knew he wasn't being paranoid though, his instincts had never let him down before.

Besides, any being that related to the magical world wouldn't start a conflict in the middle of public… right? They couldn't, their own faction would make sure to eliminate them, much less the other two factions, and there were Devils that lived in this town that would to come and eliminate the offender.

Unless his attackers were the devils themselves…

He continued searching the area, desperate for any signs. The two women who were carelessly talking about their respective husbands. The baby crying at his father who was trying desperately to make him be quiet. Hell, even the potted plant near one of the windows of apartments rather near. He tried to search with his magical sense also but nothing stood out to him other than just a slight remnant of magic which was usual for a town owned by devils.

"Oi, Touji are you sick? I mean, I know the stupid amount of people waiting in line is pretty surprising, but it's not _that_ bad." Godou's face appeared in Touji's own while he carefully restricted the twitch of his right hand. As great and surprisingly intellectual his friend could be, the poor man never knew how close he was to dying with his friend's fist shearing through his ribs to rip apart his body.

"Yeah… yeah, don't worry about it Godou. I haven't feeling all that well since my travel, maybe the client had a cold or something and it transferred over." He tried laughing it off but failed miserably, which could be seen as Godou frowned.

His hand twitched again towards Godou, though the man thankfully missed it once again. This time it had to be far more restricted than the previous time whereas before he was about to kill Godou on reflex, this time he was about to kill Godou on purpose.

Something seemed off about his best friend. He couldn't place his finger quite on it though, irritatingly enough. It wasn't another Devil or Fallen Angel or a monster replacing his best friend, he would have noticed that instantly. There were some key factors which nearly all shapeshifters displayed, no matter if they read the mind of their victim beforehand or not. They won't be able to reflect every habit of the person they were replicating, there would always be a slight habit that they themselves have in contrast to the one they are imitating.

The way that Godou seemed to prefer his left leg a bit more than his right even though he was right hand dominant due to how he had received a burn on his lower right calf when he was younger, evident as he always stepped with his left foot before the right and supported his weight a bit more with his left leg like he was now, though it helped that Godou had told him the story. The way that one or two strands of his hair seemed just a bit frayed, evident that he was cooking today, since Izumi was sleeping in today just like every Saturday in the Hyodou household, and turned the heat on a bit too much and leaned a bit too close to the open flame like always. The slight amount of mud on the near bottom of his shoes, just at the edge and overlapping the bottom of the shoe's threshold, showing that he played in the mud yesterday with Issei and Irina, as he had said on the way here laughingly. His stance was completely relaxed and not at all the stance of someone that was used to fighting. Even the way his shoelaces were double knotted rather than the usual single knotted due to the longer than normal shoelaces of his black shoes.

Everything fitted him to a tee. There was no way that this was a shapeshifter.

Then what was off about him?

No, there wasn't anything off about him. Or at the very least, the physical side of Godou.

The exorcist paled a bit more when he realized what was off about his friend. The umbral side of Godou was slightly less defined than it should be at this time of day. Just in case Touji checked his watch. Yeah it was a bit more than half an hour till the shop opens at 9:30. Just in case Touji turned his head to gaze at the sun. It wasn't slightly covered by clouds so it was supposed to shine but the light itself felt a bit more dull.

That only happened if…

If his instincts were yelling at him before, now they felt like the rumbling voice of God Himself telling Touji to not draw out his sword but rather just get out of the way. "Move!" He felt him shout as he grabbed Godou and lunged out of the way of a light spear which had appeared out of nowhere. It stabbed some unfortunate male in the chest before detonating in the middle of the crowd.

For a moment the only sound that was heard was the explosion that took place in the middle of the street, a type of silence which could only be produced by pure shock. The silence was soon eradicated as someone screamed in horror which started a stampede of everyone trying to escape from where the explosion originated. Those that were the farthest from the shop turned around and ran a short distance before finding themselves unable to proceed any further.

'Tch!" He clicked his tongue. "A barrier?!" How the hell did he not sense that? It wasn't powerful at all but it was still enough to trap all normal civilians within the barrier so he should have been able to sense it!

"Irina!" He shouted. She wasn't hurt was she? It wasn't that big of an explosion, just enough to kill maybe ten people in the crowd and she wasn't even near the spear. If even the smallest of scars appeared on her he would murder the literal hell out of the Fallen Angel that was either ballsy or stupid enough to break the treaty in the middle of a public place and in the middle of the fucking _day_ no less. "Issei! Irina!"

Godou looked disoriented by the explosion before screaming to Touji, "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" Touji yelled back. "Let's find Irina and Issei!" Shit! Shit, shit, shit, this was getting worse by the second! Another spear of light seemed to appear from nowhere but this time Touji was able to track its origin before leaping and rolling aside, correctly determining that it was another explosive spear. He frowned a bit. Wasn't that spear slower than the normal speed of light spears, even if it was explosive? He gazed at the water tank nearby where a handsome black haired and violet eyed man stood, clutching another spear and aiming it for him.

He already knew it from the light not being at the usual brightness but he muttered "Damn Fallen Angel," before drawing his sword, which dispelled its invisibility. He swiped the next spear away, this one not exploding on contact but faster than the previous ones.

Godou saw him seemingly drawing the sword from thin air, going pale as the light spear was knocked away and how it dissolved into thin air. "Touji… what?"

Damn it all! No, the first matter was getting everyone out of here so he could kill the fallen angel without any distractions. He started running towards both the Fallen and the Barrier which was blocking the way of the civilians.

"Oh no you don't!" The Fallen shouted before tossing another light spear and diving towards Touji and forcing him to block the attack and waste his time. The Fallen Angel conjured another spear in his hand before flying through the barrier and swinging it at Touji. He blocked it with his sword and lashed out at the surprised Fallen Angel when the spear shattered on contact. The Fallen jerked his head out of the way the blade, paling slightly as it cut off a few snippets of his hair before snarling and leaping back.

"You crazy bastard!" Touji shouted while bringing his sword towards the Fallen in a sharp jab. The Fallen once again conjured a spear and brought it to meet the sword on the side so that even when it shattered it still managed to shift the blade away from him. "This breaks the peace!"

"I don't fucking care Exorcist!" He snarled back. "You screwed up with killing Zatari!"

"Who? No, you know what, I don't care!" He shouted, parrying the spear with that the Fallen conjured up in his left hand. Once again it shattered but this time the fallen unleashed its wings and lept back, floating in the sky only to conjure up a slightly longer spear.

He dived again to face Touji while Touji himself parried the blow. To his surprise, this one spear didn't shatter immediately. He had to strike it four more times for it to actually shatter, only for the Fallen to create another similar weapon.

The dance repeated but slowly Touji could feel himself winning against the Fallen. It was expected after all, no matter the the tricks he had up his sleeve the Fallen was still only a four winged one. Touji had defeated more powerful, the tricks just delayed the inevitable victory. To any onlooker it would seem that they were even in strength but Touji was constantly on the offensive while the Fallen was on the defensive and losing ground.

Apparently the Fallen recognized this too, judging from his scowl. Suddenly his expression changed from a scowl to a bloodlusting smile. "Hey. You have pretty dull hair for a human ya know."

That's not good. "What about it?" He frowned as he destroyed the latest spear, the blade nearly taking an eye out of the Grigori member in front of him.

The Fallen once again barely dodged it and said, "I'm just saying. Unlike your boring and dull hair, some people have excellent and distinctive hair. Something like the hair color of that girl of yours really _pops_ out!"

Touji's eye widened as the Fallen Angel ducked under the latest sword swing and conjured up a spear, this time one of the normal ones. Touji instinctively blocked but it wasn't sent for him. Rather it was sent to the two children that he just noticed was on the other side of the field, led by Godou who apparently tried to grab them and run from the fight. Smart man.

Unfortunately for the Fallen, due to his awkward stance his throw went wide. Not by that much though, only enough to the right to completely miss Irina.

Touji felt a colossal amount of relief when he realized the trajectory of the spear of light missing his daughter, only to have the relief live a short life when he realized it was going to hit the kid next to her. A kid that he knew and thought of as son.

"Issei!" He shouted out with fear, feeling only hatred for the Fallen in front of him when he turned back to dodge one of the latest spears, cutting his face just a tad bit and drawing first blood in the fight.

Issei apparently heard him and turned around, only to freeze in shock and fear when he saw the light spear heading towards him. It closed in, slower than normal due to the weak toss by the Fallen, but still quick enough for him to be unable to shake off his fear and dodge in the dew precious seconds.

"ISSEI!" A voice shouted as an chestnut haired missile crashed into him and pushed him away from the spear. Instead of Issei, the lance struck the intended target in the gut before shearing through the girl and striking the ground and leaving a deep crater before dissipating.

Irina Shidou fell down on the ground, watching as her blood steadily and quickly left her in horror. Tears came to her eyes from the pain. It hurt, it hurt so much! She tried to vocalize her pain only for the lone sound leaving her mouth to be the horrific gurgle of blood as she choked on it. The grass was dyed red with the liquid of life and continued to stretch over the field. Issei seemed to snap out of his shock and ran over to Irina while Godou, after realizing Irina was hit, screamed for a doctor and also rushed to Irina.

The Fallen laughed as the girl he was aiming for pushed the boy out of the way. What good luck! Or at least he thought it was when he looked back to the exorcist he was fighting who was looking at his daughter in an amalgamation of shock, horror, fear, and multiple other emotions.

The Fallen conjured up another spear and ran towards the man, intending to catch him by surprise. The man turned to look at him in the purest form of hatred, his eyes so cold that the Satans themselves would have fled in fear.

"Too late!" The Fallen cackled as the spear neared the man's heart. Rather than block it or try to dodge, the crazy ass bastard tried to _grab_ the spear and bring it downwards, scarring his left hand in third and fourth degree burns, and forced the spear to run through his gut instead.

The exorcist grabbed his wrist and pulled the Fallen forward, driving the spear even deeper into his body.

"Wha-" was the only word the Fallen was able to release before he let out a scream of pain when Touji clamped down on his wrist hard to prevent the Fallen from escaping and drove his sword deep into the bastard that harmed his daughter.

The Fallen angel coughed up a large amount of blood before wrenching his arm out of Touji's grasp and stumbling backwards, even while his spear dissipated into sparks. Both of them were heavily wounded and losing blood steadily, both of them on their deathbeds. The Exorcist having a hole in his gut, though it was cauterized, while the Fallen had a similar wound. Usually any member of the Three Factions could ignore such a wound temporarily and afford to heal themselves later but… "Holy Sword!" The Fallen Angel spat out. There was no walking away from this battle for him. After all, even a scratch of a Holy Sword was lethal to Devils and, while less effective, had somewhat similar effects on the Fallen. He probably had only four to five minutes left to live. Maybe ten at max, though that was being generous.

Hate filled both of the combatants very beings as they focused on each other, every other distraction becoming distant.

The Fallen Angel summoned another spear into his hands, this one longer than normal and littered with cracks all along its length, far more volatile than any of the previous spears. The bombing spear he had used before, trying to insure that the exorcist would go down with him even if he would die. The Exorcist just lifted his sword and they both started to charge.

Both of them trying to ensure that the other would never rise again.

Both of them were distracted by a high pitched scream of pure rage and terror.

Well no, that was incorrect. Neither of them was distracted by the scream itself.

The Exorcist was distracted by the voice sounding far too familiar. The Fallen paid it no mind, far too used to such screams over the centuries he had been alive.

What distracted him was the pure essence of _power_ that had just appeared from the same area of the scream.

Issei was staring at the broken body of his best friend, lying on the ground and bleeding out, still somehow barely conscious. His left hand was the same color of the blood on the grass.

Twice Critical. The most basic of all Sacred Gears

"Iss-ei." Irina managed to choke out. "He-Hel-It- hurts… so mu-!" As if the words were too much to bear, Irina Shidou's body relaxed as she fell into the blissful grace of unconsciousness.

However to any that weren't doctors or had an unnatural amount of medical knowledge, it would seem that the girl had died.

Issei let out another scream of despair and rage and denial, glaring at the Fallen with so much wrath that the Angel that once served Heaven actually stiffened for a split second.

The Twice Critical seemed to morph and contort, bending in on itself even as it grew larger though while still keeping the same color scheme. Scales started covering Issei's arm, originating from his sacred gear, even as a trio of golden spikes popped out, two from the sides and one at the top extending out like claws and all of them burned with a whitish light. The emerald imbedded within split itself apart and moving like pebble in a river to the sides of the Sacred Gear. There they finally locked into place and lighted up, appearing as if they were coiled poisonous snakes ready to lash out and kill, jaws slightly open.

'Coincidentally' they also looked like the thin wings of a streamlined Dragon.

"Boosted Gear...:" Breathed out the Fallen in shock.

"Subspecies!" Whispered Touji in the same exact rapturous voice. There wasn't a single member of the Magical World who didn't know that Sacred Gear, or else they would have been put down years ago for the sake of not contaminating the gene pool.

 **[** _ **Boosted Gear! Boost!**_ **]**

The Sacred Gear cried out in triumphant glory, raising its head in the proper manner of a proud Dragon.

' **Interesting! I wouldn't have expected my awakening for far longer, another decade at the minimum. And a Sub-Species at birth? Truly interesting brat… or should I say Partner.'** A voice whispered into the mind of Issei while the boy tensed up. It sounded too real to be dismissed as a figment of imagination, and something within Issei rolled in disgust at the idea of the power to be suddenly flowing throughout his veins to be fake.

"I don't know who you are!" Shouted Issei. "And I don't care! Help me… Help me save Irina!"

' **Hoh! Born as a Sub-species not from necessity but from pure rage and willpower! No, it would be far more accurate to say that this wildfire that burns within you is from you seeing this girl living as a necessity in life! Interesting! Truly interesting boy!'** The voice within seemed delighted. ' **This Sacred Gear was born from the very depths of your emotion at seeing this girl hurt. It won't be a Twilight Healing in any manner but if you truly wish to save this girl then the Sub-Species will assist you in such a manner. But be warned, a supporting based Gear is rarer than any other and a cost will be extracted.'**

"I told you, I don't care! As long as I can save Irina I will do anything!" Issei shouted at the device on his arm.

' **Well spoken brat!'** The voice shouted in agreement.

' **Remember this partner!'** The voice said. ' **All Sacred Gears are driven by emotion and desire! Though training is needed, your will to succeed is what drives everything in your life!'**

 **By my name of Y Ddraig Goch, this Red Dragon of Domination names you the Red Dragon Emperor! Let nothing stop you from claiming your desires! Not even if the world or God Himself stands in your way! Laugh in front of the Infinite and grieve at the Dream! Sink your opponents into Crimson Purgatory and shout out the first step to stealing the principles of Domination from God!'**

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]**

' **Let your pride annihilate all that stand in opposition to you! Let the power of the Dragon of Domination flow through you! Let your will be carried out! Never be trapped! If you so decide, carry out your decision with no regrets and no hesitation! Give up and you die! Hesitate and you die! Let your blood sing in your eventual fights to the death! Never be broken! Never give up! We shall not die. For I am, We are!'**

' **THE RED DRAGON EMPEROR!'**

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!] [** _ **Boost**_ **!]**

 _ **[Transfer!]**_

All the power left Issei in a rush that made him feel woozy, though it was better than previously where he felt he was about to explode.

Irina's breathing seemed to be a bit more audible and steady though she was still bleeding quite a bit and was extremely pale.

' **More is needed Partner!'** The voice in him rumbled. ' **Do it again!'**

Issei nodded tiredly. It didn't matter how much pain he went through as long as Irina was all right!

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

Issei slumped across the ground even as Irina's face regained a bit of color. It seemed that the wound was stitching itself closed, though it was still in the process of healing. The Power came a bit slower than before and it felt far more tiring when it left.

' **A couple more Partner!'** The voice, Y Ddrrooig Gach was his name if he remembered right though he felt like he didn't, shouted once more. Issei lifted his left hand onto Irina once again, right where the wound was.

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

The speed of the wound healing doubled four more times, in essence exponentially multiplying the recovery. The wound was grave and lethal when it was first dealt but now it was healing over a thousand times faster than it should be, essentially becoming a purple bruise with hundreds of scratches rather than a hole in the stomach. She still needed a blood transfusion but for now Irina was safe.

' **Good work Partner. You healed her but I'm afraid I might have found out what your sub-species ability is. Trust me, it's nowhere near good news and it's not even as powerful as my base state.'** The voice seemed annoyed at something… but at what?

' **Partner I know it seems difficult, as young as you are, but can you stand? We need to get out of the warzone here.** **Come on, you got this.'**

Issei slumped over onto Irina and fell into a deep slumber, even while the voice of the Boosted Gear let out a loud **[Cancel!]**.

' **...Well I guess not. Shit, this life might be far shorter than I thought it would be. Albion is going to be insufferable about this. Knowing our shitty luck, he probably got an absolute warmonger for a host who would be enraged at not being able to fight us.'**

Godou seemed to be having a nervous breakdown with everything that was happening but his fatherly instincts prevailed and he picked up Issei and Irina and got the hell out of there.

' **Did… did we just get saved by a normal human? The Red Dragon Emperor got saved by a normal human, no, not even normal. A human that has even less Magical Energy than most humans have. The Red Dragon Emperor was saved by a magically crippled human being that's one skipped lunch away from being anorexic. Screw it. This life just started and it already doesn't make sense.'**

"Heh. Hehehe. _Hahahahaha!_ " Touji started laughing hysterically, half in relief and the other half in pure unadulterated rage. "Get FUCKED Fallen!" He charged at the previous Angel who was still staring in shock at the wielder of the Boosted Gear being an eight year old. He glanced at Touji in shock before leaping to the side to avoid the sword.

He summoned another spear of light in his left hand, this one being far more sturdy than the one in his right.

"The Red Dragon Emperor is an eight year old who can also apparently heal." The Fallen whispered before shaking his head. "Fuck it! If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me! Let's finish this like men!" The lance in his left hand became far more sturdy and glowed with an ominous light. "Know my name Exorcist! I am Meracer the cunning, member of the Grigory, and friend to Zatari, the Fallen Angel you killed last week! And I always WIN!"

He launched himself towards Touji with the two lances in his hands, intent on claiming victory from this battle before the end of his life. Touji met him with equal ferocity.

Meracer used the lance in his left hand and attacked with a sweeping blow. Touji parried and pushed it aside with his blade only for the Fallen to use his wings and momentum from the previous strike to twirl around and attack again. This time Touji was forced to take the blow in full which forced him a meter away from Meracer. To counterattack the man charged towards the Fallen, intent on using the lance's weakness of short range to his advantage. Meracer jabbed with his lance to try and delay Touji but the Exorcist just dodged the blow continued. The Fallen leaped back to try and distance himself but Touji lept in after him, intent on cutting him down.

Instead of panicking Meracer grinned and chucked the bomb towards the trapped civilians, forcing Touji to break away and to try and intercept the blade. In desperation the Exorcist tossed his blade towards the exploding lance, hitting it and forcing the spear to detonate halfway. Touji snarled as he saw Meracer create five more bomb lances and aim it at the multiple groups of civilians, even as he picked up his sword once again. The Fallen launched them one at a time, his goal not to kill the people but to distract Touji. It worked as Touji tried to force himself to chase after one bombing lance and intercept it which caused him to take damage as he couldn't throw away his sword every time. This led him onto trying to intercept more exploding spears and taking even more damage.

Meracer couldn't keep up the assault though. He was only one Fallen Angel and the bombing spear spell took an exhausting amount of magical power. He instead decided to wait in the air and first judge Touji's condition before trying anything else.

Touji was, to be simply put, a complete wreck. Soot decorated more of his face than actual skin, since some of his skin was actually burned off due to the intensity of the explosions. With the damage from the detonations of the spears, and the hole in his gut, Touji wasn't exactly working at full strength. He spat out some blood onto the grass. "Nothing's as bad as a trickster who doesn't care about casualties." He muttered while hatefully glaring at the Fallen who harmed his daughter. "All right now how should I approach this… oh shit, if I win this Irina is going to kill me."

He made up his mind and said the two words that predates every turning point in history, every important event in life.

"Fuck it!"

He charged towards Meracer while the Fallen frowned. "Again? Didn't help the last couple of times..." he muttered. He then grinned ferociously and said, "All right then!" Just in case though he flew farther upwards by about a dozen meters or so.

Seven normal spears of light were conjured into existence above the Fallen Angel and shot out towards Touji. With a swipe of his sword he deflected two of the spears before he stabbed his sword into the ground and grabbed the handle with his hand and use it to push himself upwards into the air and avoid another three of the light weapons. He landed and grabbed his sword out of the ground before lunging into shop to avoid the rest, the wooden doors caving in due to the full strength of an Exorcist being rammed against it.

Meracer frowned. "Why is he cornerning himself in the shop? It's suicide!" All right, if the Exorcist wants to kill himself then he would be happy to oblige. But just in case…

He spent the rest of his magical energy into another, far more powerful exploding spear after he created another light lance, which he held in his left hand, and two more of the common light spears which floated above his head. He carefully took aim with the bombing spear at the center of the shop to do maximum damage to the entire structure.

Meanwhile Touji was scouring through the entire shop in a rush. "C'mon, c'mon! It has to be here somewhere!" He looked up to see a glass case. He grinned. Perfect! He quickly took what was inside of the case out and saw exactly what he needed.

Right before Meracer let loose the spear, Touji jumped through a window in the building and used the ledge to flip himself onto the roof, managing to keep his balance and not slip on the shoddy planks.

Meracer didn't dare let down his ground and shot the exploding spear towards Touji. Touji lept up to meet the bombing spear before slightly dodging it only for the shop to explode behind him. The detonation of the shop only forced him higher into the air and nearer towards the Fallen Angel.

Easy shot! Meracer quickly shot a light spear towards the crowd, knowing that the Exorcist would sacrifice his sword to prevent it from hitting the crowd.

Then the sword was lost and Meracer shot his remaining spear into Touji, killing him instantly.

… Or at least that's how it should have gone. The moment he let his spear loose Touji immediately threw his sword into the spear, far too fast to actually react to the spear realistically.

'Crazy bastard! He took a guess on which the spear I would use to kill the someone in the crowd?! It honestly was a fifty fifty chance but still!'

Something black was extended from Touji towards his sword, though he couldn't tell what it exactly was with the sparks of light from the broken spear dissipating right in front of his eyes and slightly blinding him. Blindly he sent the remaining spear of light fly towards Touji, hopefully accurately though the Angel couldn't see how the human would actually change his position in the air.

When Meracer's blindness was shaken off he was greeted by the sight of the sword somehow _coming back_ towards the Exorcist. Now that he could see clearly he could see what was the black thing connecting the sword and the man.

'A pipe?! He used the extendable pipe of a fire extinguisher to connect the sword to himself by tying it around the wrist?! How is that thing even holding up?!' Meracer thought before seeing a slight glow around the pipe. 'Wait… oh come on! That's one of the most basic spells of an exorcist and fell out of practice nearly three centuries ago! How does he even know that?!'

Prayer of Strength. Unlike what it actually implies, the spell was not used for an increase of strength. Rather it was used by Priests and Exorcists a couple of centuries ago to increase the endurance of an object, usually a weapon, and inject it with such a slight holy aura that even devils could ignore it without that many ramifications. It was removed from the teachings of an Exorcist long ago for the more useful mass-produced holy swords which could actually deal damage against devils and the Fallen. Right now, Touji was using it to increase the strength of the pipe so it doesn't tear itself in half in mid-flight.

The last spear was shearing through the air to reach Touji. Meracer actually had some hope for this one since even if the spear would shatter on impact with the sword, it will still push the Exorcist back a bit and he could allow gravity to do the rest of his work.

The hope died an ugly death as he saw Touji grin. Even while the spear shot through the air to him, rather than blocking with the sword, he grabbed the sword, pulled up his legs, and place the holy artifact underneath his feet even as gravity started to act on him and started pulling him back down to the Earth.

He leapt off the sword to reach the Fallen Angel above him in the air even as he pulled it back towards him with the damnable pipe, the spear grazing his arm rather than just impaling him outright.

Meracer gave a ferocious growl as he swung his lance in a wide arc, his last defense between the Exorcist and him. The servant of the Church who was flying at him, rather than try to defend from the lancer which could rip him in half like he was made of paper, retrieved his sword and used the handle to once again jump from it, the sword shooting back towards the ground.

The pipe started tearing up even while in the air, the Prayer of Strength not being able to stop the deterioration caused from the pipe being used for far more insane stunts than what it was originally designed for. Touji tugged the pipe once again, the sword coming back to his hands before the pipe tore itself in half. Whatever, he didn't need it anymore anyways.

Meracer's lance shot towards him and, rather than block it with his sword, Touji grabbed it midway with his hand even as the light burned him and tore his arm apart. Meracer seemed shocked but before he could let out even a single word Touji let out a primal roar and shoved his sword into the bastard's chest.

The Fallen spat out large amounts of blood even as he swayed and fell through the air. Using Meracer's body as a cushion for his own fall, Touji grabbed the Fallen with his right arm and pressed himself against him. They both slammed into the ground at high speeds and Touji was flung off Meracer, rolling against the ground which aggravated his wounds.

Meracer seemed to be grasping onto the last few seconds of his life with all his might and turned towards Touji. "Ho-ow?" He asked while spitting up blood. It was understandable after all, the lance that Meracer created was far more solid than any normal light spear. Even before that, light spears were deadly and stupidly strong. Any normal one could easily cut through a human, the lance form should have sheared through Touji like Durandal through butter.

Touji didn't respond, couldn't seeing how he was face down on the grass and bleeding far too much to be anything less than lethal. His response wasn't needed though, seeing how the bloody remnants of his left arm was still glowing.

Meracer stared at it before chuckling in his last few breaths, the holy weapon spreading light throughout his body like poison. 'Crazy bastard.' He thought before his breathing ceased. It was understandable.

After all, using Prayer of Strength on yourself was basically suicidal. It degenerated the body at an insane rate, killing yourself within a few minutes as the cells shriveled up and died at an exponential rate, even faster depending on how much magic you put into the spell. However if you cut out the origin of where the spell was casted fast enough you might be able to save yourself. In hindsight, Meracer actually helped Touji by destroying his arm.

"Touji!" Godou shouted as he ran towards his best friend cautiously, in case that… that thing was still alive and attacking them. Seeing that the thing that was killing them all was unresponsive he gathered up his courage and abandoned his caution, sprinting towards his fallen friend. "Touji, what the hell was that?! No don't answer, I'll feel better if I kick your ass when you're healed."

"There-" Touji spit out. "Isn't that much chance of that. Take ca-re of Ir-ina." The both of them knew it, but apparently he was the only one that couldn't refuse the grave reality of what happened. He could feel his body losing blood rapidly. He was probably going to be unconscious and then soon die. At least Irina was alive, thanks to Issei...

"No. Nononono! Don't you dare die on me bastard! You owe me some answers! If you die from that… from that bat from hell I will revive you and kill you again, do you hear me?!" When Touji didn't respond, Godou panicked.

"No! C'mon Touji! Doctor, we need a doctor!" He shouted while desperately searching. The whole field was deserted though, everybody having already fled the scene when the barrier had fell from the death of the wizard bat from hell. His gaze fell upon the two children sleeping on the floor and clambered upwards. He grabbed his son and shook him a bit. "Issei! Issei! C'mon buddy I know you're tired but wake up!"

Issei groggily woke up before his eyes widened in shock at the sight of Touji bleeding.

He tried to sit up and run over to him but he could barely get up. Every muscle felt like it was on fire, every cell felt exhausted.

"The thing you did on Irina? Can you do the same thing on Touji?" Godou asked desperately to his son, never before feeling so helpless in his life. He had to rely on his _eight year old son_ to pull another miracle out of his ass to save _his best friend_.

"I-I'll try." Issei said groggily. Godou lifted up Issei in his arms before sprinting towards Touji.

"Issei! We're here! Can you do it?" Godou asked seriously. It looked like Issei was about to pass out.

"I will." Issei responded to his dad determinedly, if a bit groggily. Godou placed Issei near Touji, and Issei stared at him in shock and horror for a few seconds. Touji was… broken would be the most respectful word. Accurate words would be: a fucking mess of universal proportions. Burns littered across the man's body, his entire being was coated with blood, his _fucking arm_ was gone, it was just…

" **Partner!"** The voice within him shouted, snapping him out of his shock. " **I don't know about you, but Dragons don't like to have any debts at all. You owe a debt to this man for saving your life from the Fallen now save his life! I told you before, we are the Red Dragon Emperor and all Emperors pay their debts back. Now heal him!"**

Issei nodded dumbly and summoned the 'crimson super thing' onto his arm.

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

Issei felt like he was about to pass out. If everything felt exhausted before, now it was getting to the point where it started to severely hurt. Muscles start to tear slightly while bones started developing microfractures.

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

Issei could hear only static buzzing around his head like an irritating fly. His brain started interpreting the scenery differently, making everything look like it was swirling in a kaleidoscope of ever changing colors. Midnight black met with sunshine yellow to form a dark bright white. Nothing made sense.

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

But Issei kept going. He kept going and kept transfering boosts no matter the pain he went through, so much that he couldn't even scream. There was an animalistic instinct in him that wanted to run away from the pain, from all the things hurting him.

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

He kept going. Not because of any reason, sanity had long been tossed out the window and had the fires from hell set on it. But because of pure instinct. While there was an animalistic instinct in him to run from the pain, there was also something else…

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_ **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

" **Hoh? Interesting boy. While the instinct of a cowardly animals benefiting prey are brought out by the pain…"** It sounded like there was a fierce flapping of wings from… somewhere. The green emerald of the Boosted Gear, which had been glowing, now seemed to fill up with an essence that seemed to come from the primordial power of endless will. " **But of course. After all, Sacred Gears are attached to the soul of those who are similar to the divine spirit within. For one to attract the Boosted Gear, they must have something in common with one of the most powerful of all Dragons."**

" **Yet still, to have the protective instincts of a Dragon for its hoard…"** Deep within the Boosted Gear, the chained Dragon which could eradicate planets roared in violent and ecstatic laughter. " **To possess a Sub-Species Boosted Gear, capable of healing though at a drastic cost to the injured, while still possessing the boundless pride of the Dragons and the instinctual drive to protect one's hoard and the treasures associated with the jewels deep within, all at such an unfathomable young age… Magnificent! Magnificent New Red Dragon Emperor! Truly there is no better partner in this world for me rather than you! There are still some flaws but with no more than one or two cuts, you, human, no, you, Dragon, just might become a gem which shall be unsurpassed by all that has ever come before and all that shall follow afterwards! Though your wings might be crippled, your footsteps shall still cause the Divine to shudder in unsurpassed fear!"**

 **[** _ **Boost**_ **!]** _ **[Transfer!]**_

With the final Boost Issei shuddered, having long since been transported to the lands of the unconscious. The animalistic cry within him had long been snuffed out, only to be replaced with instinct far more powerful.

No, this instinct wasn't just powerful.

It was _primal_.

It was _**draconic**_.

Touji seemed to be breathing easier, though just slightly. It was a toss-up of whether he would survive or not. No, he was more likely to live and survive for another day than not but the arm which had long been eradicated would never be seen again, no matter the powers of the Sub-Species Boosted Gear. The top Exorcist Touji Shidou had had his fighting ability cut in half, no, maybe even more all at the hands of a Fallen who had decided to not mess with honor or pride.

No, this injury and near death had come at the behest of a weak Fallen who had decided to use strategy and cruel yet efficient tactics to reap the best of rewards. The Fallen had studied the family of the Exorcist he had planned to kill, found out the love between parent and child, found out the protective and honorable personality of Touji, made sure the Church Servant hadn't had any of his other usual weapons on him, had used a sneak attack to ambush and trap him while being surrounded by easy victims, used variability of personally developed variances of the common light spear…

With tactics, a four-winged Fallen had permanently injured and nearly killed an Exorcist who had gone up against six-winged Fallen Angels on his own and won without any debilitating attacks. An Exorcist that had only survived due to sheer luck to the point where many people wouldn't question if the man was blessed by God and won five lotteries with each granting billions of U.S. dollars.

Insanity was the right word for the events of today, yet it still understated what happened.

All that could be known was that Fate itself would tremble in front of future which had drastically changed.

* * *

 **All right! How was the chapter? I hope it was good. I was stupidly iffy on the fight scene, not sure if I wrote it good enough. If you have any critics on... well, anything then...**

 **Please Review!**

 **This is the Ruler's Haven signing out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yep. That's right. Crimson Purgatory actually has a SECOND CHAPTER! It only took a few months… right?**

 **In all seriousness, I'd like to apologize for taking so long. This story isn't dead or anything. I just hit an absolute roadblock. Like, what did I actually want to do in this fic?**

 **I didn't plan jack before writing the first chapter. And I kept on trying to force this one scene which just kept burning me out whenever I had the drive to write. Finally I decided, FUCK IT, and just wrote whatever interested me, makes sense, and would be good. This entire chapter was written in three days. This'll be fun.**

* * *

"U-um? You are Hyoudou-senpai right?" The cute girl asked nervously, her cheeks flushing with a bright red and innocent blush.

"There's no fucking way." Motohama whispered, hiding with Matsuda behind the corner, being as stealthy as a bull trying to stand still in the middle of a brothel.

"Yes, I am Hyoudou Issei. Who are you?" Issei asked while he absentmindedly fiddled with the crimson bandana on his left arm. "I haven't seen you around here before. You new?" With the breasts on her, Issei knew for a fact she was. He never forgot a pair of breasts. _Ever_. Plus he had heard of the 'new beauty from Class E' was supposed to be a transfer student from… America? Britain? He wasn't quite sure, but knew she wasn't from around here. A vague backstory just enough to sate her peers' curiosity and to constantly update it in case of inquiries. Smart.

"H-hai." The girl stuttered nervously, twirling her hair and pouting her lips. She tilted her head back in a way she _knew_ maximized her attractiveness. "My name is Amano Yuuma. A-ah, you can just call me Yuuma Hyoudou-senpai."

"It is!" Matsuda whispered back in shock, giddily taking mental pictures of the show in front of him. There was _no_ way he wasn't going to tease Issei about this later. And if he just happened to ogle at the thighs on the girl- Amano Yuuma apparently- then chalk another win up for him. He knew Motohama was trying, and failing, to discreetly do the same thing.

"I-I-I," If the girl's face was crimson before, now it was comparable to a red star. "I would like to know, um, if you could-"

Here she bowed, making Issei's eyebrows arch in disbelief. "Can you go on a date with me?!" She nearly shouted, no doubt to try and overcome her 'fear' at being rejected.

Issei was expecting something like this, however. "Oh, really? A cutie like you is asking me out? Um, I'm free this Saturday. If you are too then maybe- can we- you know? Yuuma-chan?" He 'stuttered'.

"Yes! I mean, yes, I would like that very much Hyoudou-Senpai. I mean- I'm also free that day. Perhaps we can meet up at- ah- twelve by- um…"

"Miyami and seventh?" He offered, trying to cut off the silence that lasted for nearly a minute. "If that's okay with you?"

"Yes!" Yuuma pounced on his offer with the desperation of a man who had spotted an oasis after being stuck in the Sahara for a week. "Perfect! Thank you Hyoudou-senpai!"

"No problem, no problem at all." Issei laughed nervously, frantically waving his hands in an effort to wipe away any lasting awkwardness. "So… see you then?"

"Ah!" Her face, which had somewhat regained it's classic asian beauty, flared up again. "Of course! My apologies for delaying you. I'll let you go back to class."

"Thank you." Issei nodded gratefully. "See you Saturday?"

"Of course!" She nodded like a flicked bobble head. "Bye!" With these words, she scampered off, giving Issei an extremely nice view of her _fantastic_ ass. Just because he appreciated the goodies up front didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the other bountiful treasures females had to offer.

"Issei!" Almost immediately afterwards he was mobbed by Motohama and Matsuda who were leaking what they thought were manly tears. "Damn you Issei! You absolute cunt! How did you know that she was going to ask you out?"

"Does it really matter?" Asked Issei. "Now pay up."

"You didn't pay her to ask you out, did you?" Asked Matsuda suspiciously.

"Obviously not." Said Issei. "You know I'm not like that." Honestly, it would take more than a few thousand yen for a girl of that caliber to ask him out, especially with Kiba in the school. Sure, he was good looking and nice on the eyes, but if he was hot then Kiba was like the damn sun. He couldn't match up to that.

Eh. Devil physiology made nearly everyone extremely handsome or beautiful, no matter if you were reincarnated or born one.

"That's true." Matsuda said with a sigh. "You might be perverted, but you don't lie. If you say you didn't do it, I'll trust you this time." Grumbling, both Matsuda and Motohama pulled out 500 yen and shoved it into Issei's hands. Issei himself pulled out his barren wallet and placed the money inside, gleefully wondering what he could buy with it.

"Pleasure doing business with you both." He said happily, shoving his wallet back into his pocket.

"I still am wondering how you knew though." Grumbled Motohama. "I was sure she'd be fawning over Kiba like every other girl in the school.

'It's simple probability.' Issei wanted to say. 'Yuuma, or whatever her real name is, is actually a supernatural being and there's no point of someone like that to join a school if that school isn't linked to the supernatural itself. It's easy to gather information about the Devils here so there's no need for that. The only thing left in the town even closely related to the supernatural is the broken down church and me, to my knowledge. And even then, I'm only related due to the Boosted Gear. The only Pantheon that actively searches for the Sacred Gears would be the Christian Mythology due to the Gears being God's miracles and also because no other Pantheon wants a war with the Christian mythology due to them being some of the strongest beings around. This land belongs to family lines of the Super Devils so obviously no other Devil would come here without them being damn important which she obviously wasn't. Since she obviously wasn't an Angel, she must be a Fallen Angel which just happen to be creatures that use their seductive techniques and abilities to their advantage similar to the Devils themselves. So, she'd try to seduce me and so would ask me on a date, or just corner me and ask for sex. Since any stranger that comes up to a highschool student and asks for sex would immediately be scrutinized and rejected if one isn't stupid or thinking with the wrong head, the easiest way is to ask me on a date. Simple once you think it through and know basic knowledge about the truth about the world.'

Instead Issei snorted and said, "Trade secrets. Now come on, we have to go before we're late. Don't know about you, but I don't want to get a personal detention with the history teacher again."

The both of them blanched and shuddered in fear. "I've never felt more violated in my life." Matsuda said while shivering, Motohama nodding in assent. "A, what, seventy plus year old woman looking at us like _that_?! I finally understand what the girls felt like when we were doing the same thing before you convinced us to stop."

"Meh, staring isn't that bad. We're hot blooded males, it's expected at one point or another. Especially with how short the damn skirts are. It's just the blatant sexual assault that was happening wasn't exactly a happy example of your future life." Issei said, shrugging. "Come on, we have to run. I am _not_ going to be subjected to the gaze of a person just a step away from being a pedophile."

'Today's a pretty good day.' He thought while running, with his minions being just behind him. They slipped into the room right before the bell rang and sat down at their desks. He pretended to pay attention though anyone who observed his glazed eyes could easily see he wasn't. 'Got some money and a date with a Fallen Angel day after tomorrow. You think surveillance is the only purpose Ddraig?'

" **It could be."** The Dragon within him agreed. **"But I doubt it. She was releasing just a bit too much bloodlust for something as simple as that."**

'Yeah, that's true.' Issei replied back over his telepathic connection with his Sacred Gear's tenant. 'I wasn't sure if that was normal Fallen Angel behavior or not. Haven't really met one before other than _him_. And you can't really consider him a normal Fallen Angel either, considering the way he actually planned out multiple traps for Irina's dad rather than looking down on humans like most supernatural creatures and going straight for the kill."

Ddraig sent back the mental equivalent of a shrug. **"I don't know. And to be honest, do you really care? You've got a date with her, and if she tries to kill you then just kill her. With the magical energy pouring out of the idiot, she's most likely a two winged Fallen. A four winged one at max."**

'Meh, that's true. But I don't want to. Have you seen how she looks?! She's trying to conform herself to human looks and she _still_ looks fantastic! I don't want to waste that! That'd be a crime against every hot blooded male in existence, dead or otherwise.' Issei fired back.

" **Of course that's why you wouldn't to kill her."** Ddraig replied with a groan. **"Because of her looks. At least it's not because any misplaced sense of chivalry, thank Ophis."**

'You know me too well for that Ddraig.' Issei said, nearly laughing at the thought. 'I'm the _embodiment_ of gender equality. A woman's life isn't more than a man. Sure, I'll be nicer to a woman if it gets me any closer to being laid but I'd stab a woman just as easily I'd stab a man. I'm not one of those hypocrites that can kill a thousand men but fail to kill a woman just because of her gender, or one of those people that scream about gender equality then demand someone to 'be a man' later.'

The Dragon sighed. **"At least you aren't stupid enough for that. You're smart but you do sometimes think with the wrong head. Normally one would be cautious of an assassin coming for them, but nooooo. You instead say 'Hey Ms. Assassin! If you have sex with me I'll allow you to get damn close to actually killing me!' Finest Red Dragon Emperor my scaly ass."**

"Sex is worth it."

" **Says the virgin."**

"Fuck off! Isn't it smart to turn and use the assassin for your own benefits? Like feeding wrong information to a spy so your enemy gets bad intel?"

" **It's sad you think those two acts are actually comparable. That's like comparing the Great War to a water fight."**

"More like a dick measuring competition between three idiots that had more steroids than brains. Then two larger idiots came by with even _bigger_ dicks and even _more_ steroids so all the idiots came by and tried to stop them from trying compare dick sizes lest their world would be _rocked_. That would be a silly comparison. Oh wait, that's what _actually happened_. The three stooges up top dropped the soap in prison. Any excuse for war was just that. Excuses. They were just driven by bloodlust more than anything else."

" **Are you sure you're allowed to say something like that? You're being rather hypocritical."**

' _I just enjoy a good fight._ I don't let myself be driven by something like that. I'm not going to challenge Lucifer to a fight while ignoring the world literally falling apart around me or some shit.' Issei shot back.

" **No. You will instead cause the Apocalypse if it will benefit you in the protection of your Horde somehow. Do not pretend that you care about the lives around you. Not to me partner."**

Issei's eyes flashed angrily, the crowd around him unaware how close their lives were to ending. The only bounds preventing him from following through with that intent was how it would prove Ddraig right, along with the trouble that would follow him and impact the Horde.

"Careful Ddraig." He coldly responded. "Or else I will search up _every bad Dragon Hentai in existence and force you to watch it all."_

Even the tone that Issei took couldn't dissipate the ridiculousness of his threat. A threat that he was completely serious about too. He was already reviewing his personal top ten worst Dragon hentai's in existence and made sure Ddraig knew what he was thinking about too.

" **...I wish God had killed me that day rather than sealing me away. The cold feeling of Death would be far more of a comfort than being sealed inside of a bipolar pervert."**

"Yeah!" Issei pumped his fist in the air, unashamedly proud of how he subdued Ddraig via torture by hentai. "Fuck the police! Down with the establishment! I'm my own person and ain't nothing you can do about it!"

"Ah, Hyoudou-san. Since you disturbed the class, may I assume you finish the work? Read out your answer to question 7c for us please. If it is not up to standards, rest assured, you _will_ have a… private detention with me. For the rest of the month."

' _Oh... fuck me.'_

* * *

The 'right hand of the Queen' of Kuoh academy politely knocked on the door to the Occult Research Club, a gentle smile flowing across her face as if that was natural state. To always be serene, a calming force as she was an untouched lake.

She had spent hours practicing the same mask of a smile in front of the mirror. She took notes of the fake smile Sirzechs always used in public, of the dozens of high ranking political devils that gathered at his party. She had once called all of his parties Masquerades within earshot of the current Lucifer. He had agreed.

She was greeted by an equally fake smile by the blond in her peerage. No. If hers was like an untouched lake his was more of the lake being frozen over with icicles stabbing out, impaling anyone who tried to get close to him.

"Ah! Akeno-san, you've come back." He responded with cheer, unconsciously tilting his head _just_ so in a way that would maximize his handsomeness. His blue eyes were stunning, she would admit to that on any day of the week. Easy on the eyes, and with that act, it was no wonder that practically every girl in Kuoh would be on their knees for him in half a second.

Akeno had to suppress a shudder. Those utter fools. Yes, they most likely saw his eyes and more than likely tried to drown themselves in the cerulean blue, but they treated it like a piece of art rather than a human being. Perfection encaptured, and to call them beautiful would be an insult. However, just like an artistic masterpiece, it never _changed_. They were blank, never changing even when he smiled or laughed. The last time Akeno saw his eyes flicker with emotion was with pure, black rage.

Kiba was not a sociopath, nor was he a psychopath. He was just someone who would cut his own arm off before revealing his true emotions, before showing off the tar pit that was his soul. No doubt it was only his hatred for the Holy swords and desire for revenge preventing him from summoning a blade and piercing his own skull with it.

Akeno fought off the urge to shudder as she did a thousand times before. No doubt Kiba had noticed it, though she couldn't tell what he had actually thought of it.

However, she'd masked her emotions before he had even started to form his own mask. Kiba could no doubt hide from her, but she could easily disguise her uncomfortableness, even if it was only to herself.

"Can you gather up the Peerage Kiba-kun? I believe they will be interested with the update."

He nodded in assent, though no curiosity flicked through his eyes. She felt disappointed, though she had become used to it over the many tries she'd done before.

It took only five minutes for the Peerage to be settled within the main room of the ORC, and another five minutes for her to finish making the tea and distribute it.

"Hm. Excellent as always Akeno." Her King complimented after taking a sip, as always.

"It is no problem Rias." She responded kindly, as always. "I thought everyone here would like to be informed of the current situation going on with the Fallen Angel that has 'snuck' into Kuoh."

A flicker of interest shot through her King's eyes. "Ah. So who is the Sacred Gear user? And more importantly, how did we miss him or her?" It was an understandable question. After all, a Sacred Gear user usually let out a somewhat large amount of magic, even if they hadn't unlocked the Miracle yet. WIth their close proximity, it should be easy to sense them.

"That's the interesting part." Akeno said while putting down her tea and leaning forward. "The Sacred Gear user is Hyoudou Issei."

Rias racked her mind for the person in question. "Hyoudou Issei? Isn't he the one who won a couple awards for straightening out the Perverted Duo? Sona was actually complimenting him for that, as well as being able to score high on his studies."

"Yes." Akeno confirmed, unsurprised to hear how Rias had heard from Sona about him. Really, for being so different it was a wonder that they weren't the worst of enemies, let alone best friends. "However that is not the interesting part. What's interesting is that _he does not exist_."

Rias's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean about that? Is he a spy planted by another faction or Pantheon?" She questioned.

"No." Akeno shook her head. "If he was a spy, then he is either a useless one or a foolish one, especially how he drew attention to himself. There is a paper trail for him too, unlike the Fallen. No, what's special about Issei is that I cannot _sense_ him."

Koneko stopped munching on her food while Kiba arched an eyebrow, telling signs of their emotions. Rias herself was shocked along with them. "What? How?! You're the most magically attuned out of all of us due to you being a Queen, and even a toddler could sense the magical energy of humans! It shouldn't be possible to hide from you!"

"Exactly." Akeno confirmed. "After school ended, I followed Hyoudou-san home and I'm certain of it. It's not just him I can't sense, but his entire family. Somehow, in someway, Hyoudou's entire family line is magically crippled. Even human infants, much less Devil ones, have more magical power in their finger than the family's magical power combined."

"No wonder we couldn't pick up on him before." Rias muttered to herself. "We rely on our sixth sense of magic sensing more than any of our other senses. If we can't sense him, then Hyoudou-san is effectively invisible against us, a void where our own bodies betray us and say he isn't here."

"Can we assume that he hasn't awakened the Sacred Gear yet?" Kiba asked inquisitively.

"Yes, it's more than likely he hasn't." Rias confirmed. "No matter how crippled in magical capabilities, one would release a large amount of mana if they had awakened the Sacred Gear. Especially if it was a strong one, though I doubt it is. However if Koneko would be willing to at least walk by him, she should be able to smell how strong the Sacred Gear is. Only if you're willing, that is." She said, her eyes darting towards the small girl.

Koneko paused for a second before slowly nodding. "I'll walk by him tomorrow in the morning. When will his date with the Fallen be?"

"Sunday in the afternoon." Akeno confirmed.

"Good." Rias stated. "That's enough time to scout out if he has a powerful Sacred Gear, and to ascertain his willingness to join a Peerage. If he is likely to refuse, then the Fallen can kill him and we can revive him then."

The rest of the Peerage nodded in assent, and Akeno herself followed a second behind. She felt uncomfortable with killing someone just to use their power along with Rias's willingness to follow through with the plan, but she understood why. Rias herself wasn't malevolent or someone who didn't mind the death of the humans. If that was so, she never would have bartered with the Akajima clan to ensure that Akeno continued to live far before ever turning her into a devil. She could have just allow them to kill her and then claim the corpse as her Queen.

Akeno fist tightened in rage as she thought the source of her King's problems. Riser Phenex, the flaming bastard, and the damn political marriage. That was forcing Rias to be far more desperate in her attempt to gain a powerful peerage, if and when it came down to a fight between them and Riser's peerage due to Rias refusing to acknowledge the marriage contract between them.

Even if Akeno hated to admit, and she absolutely did, in terms of power there was no doubt that Riser was stronger. Perhaps they could beat his Peerage, though that would be through some luck and strategy, but in the end nothing they had could truly damage Riser. The regenerating flames of the Immortal Phenex clan was truly a disgustingly useful ability, especially with the sheer speed of his regeneration. Rias's **Power of Destruction** magic could maybe, _maybe_ , damage him enough to require Phoenix Tears but even then she would admit that in sheer versatility Riser could and would beat them.

Hyoudou Issei was a gamble, one which they are cashing all their chips on. If he wasn't a wielder of a Sacred Gear that could beat Riser, then it was game over. They would kill the Fallen before she could kill him, alter his memories to forget, and leave. But if he _was_ one or at least one that could assist them? Or even if he didn't activate his Sacred Gear before his death so they could observe it?

Well, in the end the Peerage would have to choose for themselves. Would they rather choose the life of one man who would most likely achieve nothing particularly special in life, a stranger that they would never meet again after High School? Or will they choose the happiness of their King, the one that took them in at the lowest point of their lives and took care of them? The one that saved them all?

Akeno knew she was thinking for the Peerage as a whole when she was sure that they would slaughter every human in the town themselves if it improved their chances of beating Riser from zero to ten percent, or even one percent. Loyalty was a trait engrained in all of them, even in Rias herself, who was someone that would put herself in front of a holy bullet for any of them.

She liked Rias, loved her as a sister even, but she had to wonder at times. How much of that loyalty was because of the familial bond, and how much of the loyalty is due to all of them having nowhere else to go?

Akeno smiled her fake smile, the serene lake hiding a storm of emotions and trauma underneath. It was as much a barrier for herself than just for others. If she let it down for even a moment, she was terrified that the trauma of her childhood which she always ran from would finally catch up to her.

* * *

'Amano Yuuma' sighed in relief as she _finally_ was able to drop the 'adorably shy teenager' act she was wearing. She stepped into the broken down church and basked in the gaze of the Exorcists, their eyes trailing her lithe form and more than a few men, and woman, turning away their gaze with crimson faces.

She smirked and strutted into her private rooms. It was only natural that they be awed by her beauty. Beings reknowned for seduction such as the Fallen Angels could twist the sexuality of even the straightest men and woman, and the more powerful one is, the more strength is needed to be able to resist their charms. It was the main reason why whenever Azazel led the battle in the Great War, only Michael came down to face him. Not just because only the Seraphs and God could face him, but because even Heaven was wary of Azazel's charm and beauty.

After all, if the weaker angels on the battlefield fell just by _gazing_ at him, the moral of Heaven would have fallen with them.

Especially if Azazel followed through on his claim on making Gabriel fall. If one of the Seraphs fell, it would have been impossible to recover. The war more than likely would have been lost for them.

'Yuuma' herself started to transform. She started to grow taller, her body started to fill out and become more voluptuous and the clothes she wore started to fade away and become more reminiscent of the lingerie like garments of the female Fallen.

"I assume everything has gone to plan Raynere?" A silky smooth voice rang out from behind her.

Turning around to face the voice's owner, Raynere grinned predatorily and stalked towards Dohnaseek. "Why Dohnaseek," She purred, her eyes flashing with amusement as if she was a cat playing with a broken bird. "You're in my private quarters, just for a question about the mission? Or was it for a desire of something far more… _exciting?_ "

She trailed her finger down his chest teasingly. "Surely haven't you been thinking about our night together again? Don't you remember? Your blood splashing out onto the floor, bound in handcuffs outside of your ability to break, realizing that you were completely at my mercy? The moon shining overhead as you were broken again and again? Have you ever released so quickly before?"

Dohnaseek slapped her hand away angrily. "Abominable woman. Did you or did you not find the Sacred Gear user?"

Raynere shook her hand, pretending to wince in pain before finally being serious. "The idiot fell for the bait, as expected. Honestly, someone on my level asking _him_ out on a date and not being suspicious? I'd say he's as stupid as he looks if he didn't look half-decent." Hey eyes gleamed in sadistic humour. "I might even play with him for a bit before killing him, giving him the highest time of his life before finally ending it. Poetic, don't you think?"

"As long as Azazel-sama's order is carried through, I don't care what you do." Dismissed Dohnaseek. "I'll tell Mittelt and Kalawarner."

"Good." Nodded Raynere. "Where are they?"

"Mittelt is torturing some poor chap from the streets that tried to flirt with her." Said Dohnaseek casually. "Kalawarner is probably with her."

"All right." She nodded, taking sadistic pleasure on how Dohnaseek shifted uncomfortably in front of her, no doubt trying to disguise the tent in his pants coming from his memory of what was most likely the greatest night of his life.

As he turned to leave, Raynare strutted into the bathroom and turned on the shower, waiting for a few moments for the hot water to come on. She stripped her clothes, if what she wore could even be counted as some, and stepped in, enjoying the hot water.

She flashed back to her asking out Issei and shifted uncomfortably, unease creeping into her heart. There was something _wrong_ about him, something which she couldn't see but knew was there.

She might have been only been born after the Great War, but she still had quite a bit of battle experience. It wasn't anything on the level of Kokabiel-sama or Azazel-sama, but she could tell when something wasn't right. She never would admit it to herself, but she knew that was the reason that she teased Dohnaseek, in an effort to regain regain the pretense control over a situation she _should_ have had complete control over.

She tried to think about it, allowing to pounding of the hot water on her head to stimulate her brain and try to think of all possibilities. It wasn't his stance, he wasn't preparing for a fight of some kind where his life was on the line. If he knew she was a Fallen he'd be wounded up and prepared to run, or even if he was stronger than her he'd still be cautious. It was obviously wasn't that then.

Hell, she doubted that he'd be stronger than her even with a powerful Sacred Gear. He was a human after all and not even a strong one like in the days of old such as Arthur or Cu Chulainn or any number of heroes.

Hell, if she didn't know that he was a Sacred Gear user, she'd never even guess. The amount of mana coming out from him was practically nothing. She knew _corpses_ that exuded more magical power than he did, the essence of Power in him essentially nonexistent.

So what? What was making her so nervous about him?

Wait…

Raynere's eyes sharpened, the centuries she had lived reflecting an intellect to match.

It should be _impossible_ to exude no mana at all. Only high level spells and enchantments could do such a thing, and even then the spells required a metric fuck ton of requirements. Being born on a specific time during the day when the planets align once every millenium type of bullshit.

It sounded easy in context, a simple disguise to cover up one's magic. But it was _disgustingly_ useful once you actually think about it. Barely any supernatural creatures in the entire world ever rely on sight and hearing over sensing. While it would technically be correct to say that it was a sixth sense, it would be more accurate to say that it was their first and primary sense. To not be able to sense someone was essentially the same as a human trying to watch a fight while being blind and deaf.

In summarization, every assassin in the world would emasculate themselves with a rusty butter knife to have that ability. To be able to sneak into everywhere without being detected, especially when invisibility spells and runes existed even if they were hard to procure? Theoretically, if one was careful enough, even a lower level being could sneak into their stronghold and kill Azazel, or kill Lucifer, or maybe even God somehow if someone had the right tools. Not practically of course, but theoretically.

Even under the steaming water, Raynare shivered. While magically crippled humans were rare, they still existed. However even a crippled human still exuded more mana than Issei did. She knew because she had _met_ some before over the centuries she had been alive.

Magicians more powerful than her had tried and failed to disguise their mana completely, even going as far to make deals with some Gods had not been enough. There were beings that could disguise their own power, yes, but to completely eliminate every trace of it was absurd. That was _Ophis_ levels of absurdity, and even then there was no point to do it for the Dragon of Infinity.

No. No, there was no way she was right. There was no way a _human_ out of every being in existence could do that, much less a teenager. She had to be hallucinating. Right?

However… it wouldn't hurt to report this to Azazel-sama. Maybe reinforcements were necessary, and he would be interested on checking this out himself. After all, he was the one that instructed her in the first place to watch this human. Obviously there was more than meets the eye.

Yes. After finishing up her shower, she would contact Azazel-sama and notify him about the current circumstances. Of course, she wouldn't tell the other Fallen with her. It would obviously be a high level secret and outside the top brass of the Grigori she would be the only one to know. Perhaps Azazel-sama would even _reward_ her for procuring such valuable information.

The pounding of the water droplets in combination of her own overactive imagination created the phantom sensation of fingers. Fingers that traveled all over her body, exploring every crevice and curve of hers with experience only able to be gained through seducing thousands upon thousands of women over the millenia he had been alive.

Raynare's entire body shuddered again, though this time it wasn't due to fear.

Yes… that would be _delightful_.

* * *

 **Years ago...**

Issei scrunched his eyebrows and looked towards his father in worry. He might be young, yes, but even he could tell when people were acting strangely. Was it because of the cool Dragon guy in his arm?

"So…" Godou drawled out. "You expect me to believe this." He glared at Touji, trying to intimidate the middle aged and one armed exorcist. He horribly failed.

Touji glanced up at him unimpressed. "And I assume the Fallen Angel coming out of nowhere and blowing things up with spears made out of _solid light_ isn't enough proof for you along with my arm being blown to bits?"

Godou flinched and Izumi placed her hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down. She turned to Touji and said, "I might not be devout, but I am a Christian. It's easier to accept for me than him. What I want to know is," Here her eyes glittered in worry and rage. "What exactly happened to Issei?"

"Well, to get into that I'm going to assume you understood what I said about Sacred Gears." Touji said. "Essentially what Issei has is a special type of Sacred Gear called a Longinus. It's essentially a fancy word for saying it's really powerful."

'And that it's a Sacred Gear which could kill Gods but I'm pretty sure you would have a heart attack if I said that.' He thought.

"What Issei is even more rare however." He said. "Issei has a type of Sacred Gear known as a Subspecies, which essentially means that it's a Sacred Gear which has evolved due to the intense emotions the wielders experience at that moment. They usually gain abilities along with the evolution.

Issei shuddered when Touji shifted his gaze to him.

"However…" Touji pondered out loud, eyeing Issei curiously. "Sub-species evolve the base powers of the Sacred Gear and make it more powerful in the process. Something like the Boosted Gear, which is supposed to double the wielder's power every ten seconds, shouldn't be able to _heal_. That's so far removed from the spectrum that it's like trying to compare Twice Critical to Dimension Lost. It's stupidly different and shouldn't be possible."

He frowned. "Issei, what exactly is your Sacred Gear's power?"

For the first time in his life, Issei felt scared of the father of his best friend. He shook his head quickly and stammered out, "N-no. I don't know. Ddrraij doesn't know either."

"Ddraig." Touji correct absent mindedly while thinking about what Issei had said. It was not feasible for Ddraig to actually not understand his own power, even if he had never encountered a Sub-species Boosted Gear like Issei's. Why would he lie then? Obviously it wasn't because of Issei… or maybe it was. Could Ddraig actually be considering Issei's age, trying to prevent him from being drawn into the world of the Supernatural?

No, that was bullshit. Ddraig wouldn't have a good reason for that. Hell, he'd have to be stupid to actually think that way. _Power attracts Power attracts Power_ after all. There was no possible way that Issei wouldn't eventually be drawn into the Supernatural world, especially with him being the Red Dragon Emperor. He'd be trying to make Issei as strong as possible as fast as possible.

Was… was it because of him? Did Ddraig lie to Issei just because he was there, in an effort to prevent knowledge of the Boosted Gear's new ability? He was smart enough to know how information could be far more powerful than pure strength at times, it was definitely feasible.

Touji sighed. He didn't have enough information on Ddraig to think about his strategy, excluding the obvious of a Dragon's pride being enough of a reason to literally fight _God_ and the Three Factions simultaneously even if they got sealed away in the process.

In the end it didn't really matter. He would have to report this back to the Church, and in turn he would be assigned to manipulate Issei in order for the Church to be able to gain the power of the Red Dragon Emperor. There he would be brainwashed to follow the orders of the higher ups of the Church, no matter the personal cost to him. Once they finished with him, they could most likely order Issei to kill his own parents in which he wouldn't even hesitate.

Was there a chance that the Church wouldn't do that? Fuck no, the idea of the Red Dragon Emperor in the Church's control was far too tempting. If they knew he could heal along with using Ddraig, the boundless potential of a _Healing Dragon_ in their grasp? They'd be hunting him down faster than you could say Crusade.

No. Touji was loyal to the Church, but he refused to subject Issei to that. If that was so, then the only way for Issei to most likely help the Church in the future without being converted into a hitman… hitdragon… along the way was…

"Alright." Touji said out loud, startling the family in front of him. "Here's what we're going to do to make sure Issei won't be harmed and you won't die in the near future…"

Three hours later Issei was pacing around his room, not being allowed to leave the house right now due to his parent's obvious concerns. He'd essentially been ordered to not leave his room while the adults were talking, but he had plenty energy to burn. This resulted in Issei essentially running around in his room to eventually getting bored and jumping on his bed like a puppy suffering from a sugar rush.

" **Good job Partner."** Ddraig complimented. It had been over a month since he had left the hospital and a little over three since the _incident_ and Issei still wasn't used to a Dragon talking to him through his arm. At least he didn't jump every time it happened now. **"With the Exorcist gone for now, I can tell you exactly what the power of the Boosted Gear is. It isn't good though. You might be able to heal, but the overall power of the Gear's reduced by a large amount."**

"I don't care!" Issei humped angrily, though if anyone saw it they would classify it as an adorable pout. "Tell me what's my power!" All of the shows he watched told about secret powers that the main characters had, and he was no different in his mind. But unlike his shows, nobody was just telling him everything and was throwing out big words and concepts that he couldn't understand. Like, everybody in the 'Three Factions' had the same Father right? Didn't that mean they were all brothers and sisters? Why did they fight? Why couldn't they just be nice to each other?

He didn't get it. And true to any seven year old, when he didn't understand something or there was something he didn't like, Issei got mad.

" **...Heh. I guess that is a drawback if I awaken when the Emperor is young. He would be naive and unused to the ways and egos of the world."** Ddraig chuckled, understanding what was going through Issei's mind due to their shared bond over the Gear. **"I suppose that there never is an up without a few downs in life."**

Issei stiffened when he felt something _rumble_ inside him, burning like fire. His seven year old mind finally seemed to understand the beast that laid dormant within his arm.

" **You are the Red Dragon Emperor. It's only natural that you should learn of your birthright of Power. Listen now, for I will tell you exactly how to make even the Gods shudder in fear at your name. Learn the ways of Domination and even a hatchling like you might not die."**

"B-bu-but killing… and scaring people is wrong…" Issei managed to stutter out, flashing back to what the heroes in his shows used to say. "That isn't Justice."

Ddraig laughed, a grating laugh like knives against the chalkboard. **"Foolish hatchling. Killing and scaring people isn't right? It isn't just? What exactly is Justice? It is a foolish conception made by society in order to ostracize and condemn the few that stand out. The world tries to confine those who don't see fit to try to blend in with the crowd, to try and force them to become another grain in the sand of time. If one is strong enough, then the World itself bows down to their will."**

Ddraig laughed again condescendingly. **"The powerful decide what is just. What the weak say is meaningless in confront of the mighty. If you are weak, you must bow down to the strong. It's not as if your babbled excuses will have any meaning in them without anything to back it up. You may hate it but if someone who doesn't care about your feelings decides your fate, you have no possibility of fighting back. They could decide to kill you and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it, your fate decided by those who are stronger."**

Issei clenched his fist tightly in response to Ddraig's words. He tried to figure out a way to argue back but couldn't.

" **Worse,"** Ddraig added on, knowing Issei might refuse his words still. **"They could decide to kill your Horde. All because you wouldn't be strong enough to protect them, your strength not enough to deter them from attacking."**

That did it. Issei's mind flashed with images of Irina's broken body, covered in blood, similar to the scene he bore witness to a few months ago. He thought of his father and mother being placed in similar situations, their bloody bodies bent and twisted to the point it was barely recognizable as human.

"...Ddraig what's my power?" Issei asked, not with impatience or a childish fit of rage, but with cold determination befitting of one that had the power to kill a God. More steel. More conviction. More focus. More resolve.

Ddraig let out a low chuckle. Finally, the will of the Red Dragon Emperor that he saw months ago shines through once again, replacing the scared little boy he had met afterwards. **"Engrave these words into your heart Partner. The Boosted Gear in and of itself is enough of a weapon to eviscerate the Three Factions, excluding those who are at the top. A Sub-species will only heighten your potential, though yours seemed to be more geared towards support than pure power. However, you might be able to use it in a way I wouldn't expect. Humans always seem to be the most creative of any species, even if they die far easier."**

" **In the end the path to Domination is laid, and with this even a human can strike down the Gods and rip apart Worlds."**

* * *

"Kiba! Get some blankets and clothes! Akeno! Go make some of your tea, herbs that are effective at soothing Nekomatas along with water for her to drink."

Koneko shuddered and threw up once again onto the floor of the ORC, staining the red carpet with her stomach acid. She knew it was pathetic, especially with her King picking her up and rushing her to the bathroom, but at the moment she didn't really care.

She tried to force open her mouth in order to explain to Rias what had happened but the only thing she was successful in was causing more puke to stream out of her mouth. It splashed all over Rias though she didn't mind it, her only focus in mind was taking care of Koneko.

She hated that about Rias. She should have dropped Koneko on the floor, she should have focused on herself before she started to treat her. Rias was the King, Koneko was the Rook. It only made sense to prioritize the King before the Rook, both in chess and in life itself. So why?

Why did Rias try to take care of her before she took care of herself? Why did anyone try to do that? Why did they always lie? Saying that she will take care of her, saying that they would always love her? It was always a lie. Lies lies _lies_.

Kuroka said the same thing. She said the same thing always, about how she would take care of her and how she'll _always love you my little Shirone. Always._ _You'll never be alone._

Koneko forced her palms over her ears, trying to block out the world. Nobody cared about her, they'd only use her until she was no longer needed. Just like Kuroka did in her bid for power, unintentionally causing a Senjutsu overload. When she had found Kuroka it was in a half transformed state, the pupils widened out and nearly covering her entire eye, covered in the blood of their King.

She could still remember how it smelled. Smell accounted for about eighty percent of taste and with her enhanced sense of smell, she could easily discern the familiar smell of blood. It smelled like copper, and she could taste it, practically choking on the crimson life fluid. She stood there, stunned and useless, while the rest of the peerage burst in and attacked her sister. No, worse even. She _raised the alarm_ , causing Kuroka to be injured and force her to flee. If she just left it alone, maybe Kuroka would have snapped out of the Senjutsu rage. Maybe Nekoshous wouldn't be blacklisted from society, maybe, maybe, _maybe_.

Maybe if she wasn't useless back then, maybe if she wasn't a burden, maybe everything would have become better somehow. Maybe it would have worked out. But it didn't. It hadn't then and it wouldn't now.

She- she couldn't be useless. She couldn't be a burden. Never again, not like before. That way Rias wouldn't throw her away. That way, she wouldn't be left to fend against the world by herself.

And that was what terrified her. Not being killed, nor being against an opponent that could easily destroy her, but being alone. She wasn't alone before because she was with Kuroka. After Kuroka left though? She was alone, alone as those with power far greater than hers bayed for her blood. She'd die before she went back to that, that darkness where light didn't exist and her mind was vulnerable, where it preyed on her emotions and psyche and sent her spiraling downwards into severe depression.

 _Didn't you promise Nee-san? Promise that I'll never be alone?_

 _Why did you lie to me Nee-san?_

 _Was I not important to you? Was I a burden?_

 _What did I do wrong? I'll try to fix it, just let me be with you again._

 _Please…_

She slammed the mask she had placed on her emotions back into place, refusing to let that darkness come in again and prey on her psyche.

"Dragon." She managed to rasp out even as Rias forced some water into her mouth to gargle and spit out.

"What Koneko-chan?" Rias asked, distracted by her efforts placed into cleaning up Koneko.

She spit out the water, taking some pleasure in the rancid taste of stomach acid leaving her mouth, before repeating herself. "Dragon. Hyoudou-senpai smelled of Dragon. So much Dragon."

She trembled, not even realizing she was repeating the same words over and over again until Rias enveloped Koneko in a hug.

 _Warm…_

"Koneko…" Rias softly whispered to her, cradling the secret nekomata like how a mother would for her newly born child. "It's okay. What happened?"

Koneko shook her head, refusing to look weak and useless in front of Rias.

"It's okay." She reassured with a bright and soft smile, not minding the mix of stains on her school uniform. "I promise you it's okay. Did anything happen Koneko-chan?"

She shook her head quickly. "Hyoudou-senpai didn't do anything. I walked by him today as planned, trying to smell out his Sacred Gear. I didn't smell anything at first so I tried to get closer."

Rias frowned. "You didn't smell anything? But if a scent is enough to make you react like this…"

"It's not that I didn't smell his Sacred Gear." Koneko said. "I didn't smell _him._ I couldn't smell him at all. Just like how Akeno-san couldn't sense him. After I figured it out, I tried to get closer. I had to get really close but I could finally smell him."

Here Koneko trembled once again. "I don't understand _how_ I didn't smell him, how Akeno-san didn't sense him. His stench… it was so _potent_. Far more powerful than anything else I've ever smelled. I should be able to smell him from across the city but I can't now. It… surprised me. It was like smelling clean air one second and then suddenly being teleported to a room where old corpses were laid about and blood was everywhere. I wasn't prepared for it."

Rias didn't know exactly what expression to make at Koneko's explanation. "Are you saying Hyoudou not only is magically crippled to the point that even Akeno can't sense him _along_ with your enhanced sense of smell not being able to detect him?"

Hyoudou Issei… what exactly are you?

"And not just that." Rias added on. "He is also in possession of a Sacred Gear that is both extremely strong _and_ Dragon based, along with a scent so powerful it would be impossible for a locked Sacred Gear to emit. Since the Divine Dividing is in the hands of the Fallen, that only leaves one other Dragon based Longinus. Are you saying…?"

Koneko nodded. "Hyoudou Issei is the Red Dragon Emperor. And he's already unlocked the Boosted Gear."

It was silent in the bathroom for a few minutes as Rias seemed to visible struggle with something. In the end she sighed, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion.

"I'll tell Sona about what happened." Rias said out loud, though Koneko felt like it was more to reassure herself about her plan. "Then if she agrees… we'll tell the Four Maou. A loose Red Dragon Emperor is far too dangerous to leave alone."

Damn it. So soon after she had gotten out of her brother's shadow too. Sona would hate her for this, though she'd agree in the course of action. With how her sister and her own brother would react…

At least two of the Maou would be in Kuoh by tomorrow.

* * *

Omake: The Bucket list

" **Oh God dammit."** Ddraig sighed in despair. **"Not the bucket list again."**

"Hell yeah. The Bucket List of moves and techniques I want to figure out before I die." Issei proclaimed proudly, a list nearly as tall as him dropping out of his Boosted Gear. "Now time to add some more."

" **How the hell are you going to even achieve the Avatar State?! You might be strong, but you aren't some reincarnation of ancient warriors or something."** Asked Ddraig exasperatedly. **"The Kamehameha might be plausible, along with the Getsuga Tenshou, but the Avatar state isn't."**

"I'll figure it out." Issei said distractedly. "I have a ton more on here which really isn't all that possible either you know."

" **Oh I know** _ **that**_ **."** Ddraig snarked. **"How in the hell are you going to replicate Gear Second? Why would you even do that?! It reduces your lifespan for something you could easily replicate with the Boosted Gear! Plus where are you going to get millions of tiny blades that look like flowers?!"**

"But come _on_ Ddraig! It's so cool, even if it's pretty useless now." Issei pouted. "And Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is amazing! I can totally do it! What about the new ones though?"

" **The second one is plausible."** Ddraig mused. **"But the first one is impossible for a human. Hell, even I wouldn't be able to do it even if I was at full power."**

It was true too. Ddraig would fully admit that he wouldn't be able to do it, though Albion could maybe perform something similar to it. Even then, the White Dragon wouldn't be able to perform the technique how the character did it.

Issei grunted in displeasure as he finished writing the attacks and dropped it into the literal bucket in his room.

As the list dropped, it was tilted so that anyone could see the top ten names.

 _Spirit Gun_

 _Kishin Hunter_

 _Shadow Star_

 _Alchemy_

 _Rasengan_

 _Final Flash_

 _Mugetsu_

 _Unlimited Blade Works_

And finally the top two.

 _Hamon Overdrive_

 _Za Warudo_

* * *

 **Yep. Issei's a JoJo fan. So is Ddraig.**

 **Dear God, what have I done?**

 **Oh wait right… he's dead.**

 **Fuck.**

 **Yeah, I'm being oh so mysterious with Issei's power. What a surprise. It's not like every author tries to do the same thing, building it up in suspense in either a good or half-shitty manner. I'm just the latter.**

 **Also, here's one thing I always love to do.**

' **Flips middle finger.' Fuck you timeline. We're going to break you in fucking half and burn you to the ground. The basic events will be there, but nothing else. Two Maou are going to be in Kuoh by tomorrow. How do you feel? How do you FUCKING FEEL TIMELINE?!**

 **I've talked with people about his power and while it is powerful, it also can be considered weaker than the normal Boosted Gear. With this, Issei will have to be** _ **smart**_ **in how he uses it. Not just screaming out "BOOST" and punching people.**

 **And somebody asked me if it will be a Harem. Let me answer your question with a question myself.**

 **Exactly what fic are you reading? It's DxD Baby! Of course it's gonna be a harem! It'll just be realistic also.**

 **And for fucks sake, YES! ISSEI IS A HUGE FUCKING PERVERT! It's DxD baby! We just not doing the blatant sexual assault! Unless it's an enemy, then it's essentially verbal, physical, and sexual assault combined into one.**

 **And yes, Issei in fact 'cured' Motohama and Matsuda. The way how will be revealed in the next chapter.**

 **Aight. Soo….**

 **REVIEW! NITPICK ME! BE HARSH ON CRITICISMS! PM IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION WHICH I WILL ANSWER IF IT WON'T SPOIL ANYTHING! AND REVIEW AGAIN!**

 **Till next chapter you depraved fools who are reading a story WRITTEN by a depraved fool!**

 **SEE YA!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. Here we go. PM me any questions and** _ **REVIEW**_ **please. It's essentially what keeps authors going, the reviews show exactly how many people really enjoy this series.**

 **Sure, the favorites are good, but the reviews show appreciation about someone being retarded enough to write literally thousands of words about a fictional story that won't help them in anyway at all in real life.**

 **Wait, I feel like I might have phrased that wrong.**

 **Essentially, all authors, no matter what they say, take extreme pleasure in seeing reviews and it keeps them going. The more reviews saying about people liking my work, or actually telling me what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it, the faster I'll write a chapter.**

 **It's not a threat saying "Oh, if I don't get at least ten reviews then I WON'T WRITE THIS STORY ANYMORE NEEEEEHHHH" like some idiot on r/choosingbeggars. It's just basic psychology, a positive enforcement on something you spend time on will make you do said thing more.**

 **Anyways, you guys didn't come here to see me bitch like a eighty year old grandmother saying "Back in my day, we didn't have these electrosomething or another. We worked unlike this generation!" Who then gets mad when you point out that drugs were like candy back in her day also, with the death rates being far higher.**

 **Whatever.**

 **On with the story.**

* * *

"I'm still somewhat against this plan." Sona said, gritting her teeth and tapping her foot in anticipation. An event far from normal for the Sitri heiress, who usually prided herself on her knowledge and calm head, to show such blatant signs of anger and nervousness.

"I am too." Rias agreed. "But we have to." She flicked her hair back pompously, though those watching that were even somewhat familiar with her could tell it was just a way to gain some control, something of familiarity to her that could allow her to pretend it was just another normal day. Even if it was anything but.

"Obviously." Sona sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Though I must admit, it was very unlike you to come to _me_ and explain the need for our siblings to step in. I thought someone had slipped something in my tea."

"Please Sona." Rias scoffed, turning to face her best friend. "While I do think that Devils should rely far more on instinct than strategies, I'm not saying that strategies are useless or something akin to that. I am Rias Gremory, heir to the clan of Gremory. I was _born_ into politics, even if I detest it from the bottom of my heart. To not bring in our siblings while possibly facing an awakened Red Dragon Emperor? That would be the height of foolishness."

Sona hid her smile. That was the hidden side of Rias she knew. She knew many people underestimated her simply due to her looks, Riser Phenex being one of them. She was lazy and usually procrastinated, yes, but she was also _smart_. No, not smart, not like her, but she was cunning.

One problem right now though was…

"Of course Rias. Though, would you say that you haven't done foolish things before? Why, I remember how on your ninth birthday you tried to convince Beelzebub-sama and Lucifer-sama to do the naked apro-?!"

Rias nearly slapped the glasses off of Sona's face in her haste to cover her mouth. Her glare could have killed, though it's effects were negated by the bright crimson blush on her face. "We promised never to speak of that day!" She hissed.

She pulled Rias's hand off. "Oh? It must have slipped my mind." She said, her innocent words failing to convince Rias, especially with the smug grin Rias could see.

Rias humphed in return and twirled around, trying to hide her mortification at the memory of the event. It failed miserably, on account of how her blush was so vibrant that it spread even to her neck and allowed those behind her to see it.

Sona herself smirked in victory. 'Distraction successful.'

Rias really did try too hard to act mature sometimes. She knew it was hypocritical coming from her, but _she_ was the one that was supposed to worry about every detail. Rias was far more of the emotional devil, the one that did what she want when she wanted. Rias was the one that forced Sona out of her own shell, whether she liked it or not, and forced her to take the leap of faith once in a while. She was the one that tamed Rias's outlandish spirit, that forced her to think every once in a while. That was how their relationship worked, a dependency on both sides to do their respective job. If the both of them worried over everything nothing would ever be done.

Sona adjusted her glasses and gazed around the room one more time, checking to make sure that everything was in their rightful place for the meeting with the Maou.

Their peerages were also in the room, staying at the back, close enough for the knights to run ahead and engage the enemy but far enough to show that their King had their complete trust in being able to handle themselves. A basic formation that were engraved into their psyche, always to be used in political parties or meeting, no matter who they met. Even if it was with someone that they knew would _die_ before harming a hair on the head of their Kings.

The clock ticked ever closer to the meeting time, the ticking reverberating throughout the silent room. It was five fifty nine on Sunday morning with less than twenty seconds away from six o'clock, the promised time of the Red Dragon Emperor's meeting with the Fallen about six hours later in the day.

 _Five_

 _Four_

Sona shifted nervously. Not just at the idea of their siblings arriving, but at the situation as a whole. Hyoudou Issei, while she wasn't close to the boy, was not someone she would have expected to be the Red Dragon Emperor. Not the last, but far from the first. He was calm during the school days, won a few awards, and scored generally high on his studies. Far from expected for the wielder of the Boosted Gear.

 _Three_

To have a Sacred Gear you must be able to relate to the being caged inside. Essentially that meant that the more dragonlike someone was the more likely a chance the person would be born with a Dragon based Sacred Gear. To have a person that could intimately relate to a Dragon, a beast that was essentially destruction incarnate, in a _school_?! A being that couldn't be bought nor swayed from their ideals or goals, no matter the cost of their actions, be it Apocalypse or worse? It was a wonder that the entirety of Kuoh wasn't razed to the ground yet, much less a school.

 _Two_

 _One_

However, no matter how powerful the Red Dragon Emperor might have been, it was impossible for a human to face the strongest of Devils and win.

Falbium _Asmodeus_

Ajuka _Beelzebub_

Serafall _Leviathan_

And Sirzechs _Lucifer_

The four most powerful devils in all of history and some of the strongest beings in the world, ones even more powerful than the Satans that came before.

The Heavens had God and the Archangels, the Fallen had the chief Grigori, and the Devils had the Original Maou. Beings of such great strength that they were able to survive every battle they participated in during the Great War, yet later those very same Satans died by the hands of the New Maou. While it wasn't said that the weakest of them were still on the same cadre as the Seraphs and the Grigori, it was never _not_ said either, even with the extreme weakness to Holy Magic taken into account. And that was only for the weakest of them, someone like Sirzechs would most likely be a class transcending even those monsters.

Two of those very same beings were coming to a somewhat popular town in the middle of Japan. It was absurd. No, the mere fact they were coming to the Human World was ludicrous. It only highlighted just how serious the situation was.

 _Zero_

Crimson and Sea blue Magic Circles flared to life in the room, letters from languages long forgotten engraved into the rims of the circles and shined with an eldritch light. Yet even a circle that could hold some of the most powerful life forms on Earth wasn't enough.

Off to the side, even more of the rings appeared. Then they started to cover the ceilings, the floors, and soon every wall within the room had dozens of slowly rotating, unearthly circles practically chiseled into them.

Sona didn't even realize that she was shivering from the sheer magical power pouring out until the ceiling cracked and she flinched. She spun around to see what had happened only to see nearly her entire peerage on the floor with only her Queen standing along with Saji, who had used Vritra's absorption line which was currently burrowed into the ceiling, as a grappling hook to pull himself up. He was pale and shivering in fright, though he refused to bend knee. She felt her respect for him grow tremendously, not expecting a newly reincarnated pawn like him to be able to stand up to the pressure being emitted by the incoming Satans. Even if it was only a fraction of their power.

After all, the only reason Rias and herself was able to stand so easily was because they were born with those same beings near them, and spent nearly their entire lives around that power.

She tore away her gaze from him to the front of the room, only to see the Magic circles starting to congregate and layer themselves upon each other. The two dimensional structures built upon themselves and started to form a three dimensional figure, one that twisted and contorted like a possessed serpent.

Sona shut her eyes as the red and blue figures started to shine brightly, their light making it nearly impossible to stare at it directly. As the light faded from the room Sona tried to open her eyes and did so successfully. She then widened them even further in surprise as she was essentially body slammed and sent flying.

She groaned in slight pain, her devil physiology allowing her to take an attack like that and remained unharmed, in comparison to a normal human who would have probably had some bruised bones.

She opened her eyes only to be treated with the view of blackness. Black changed to blue as Sona gazed into sky colored eyes and a smile that seemed to light up the room with joy.

"So-tan!" Serafall Leviathan cried out in delight, nearly squeezing the life out of Sona by what she now realized was a hug and not an attack. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Onee-sama." Sona choked out. "Please stop hugging me…"

"Wait, why is Serafall Leviathan a Magical Girl?" Saji asked, though no one responded. He too would have to learn that Serafall and Logic cannot exist in the same plane of reality.

Serafall pouted but, after a minute, allowed her younger sister to get up. "Mou!" Serafall said, stamping her feet in childish rage. "You shouldn't only call me when there are emergencies So-tan! Why can't I come just to see you?"

Serafall's expression turned into one of terror. "Is it… is it because you've finally got a boyfriend?" Serafall whispered.

"Wait, what? No!" Sona responded, baffled by her sister's thoughts. How did she even get to that thought? "No boyfriend!" She raised her arms into an x position, as if she was a host on a game show. "In-cor-rect!"

"Aha!" Serafall pointed to her in glee. "You denied it! That means you do have one!"

"That's not how denial works!" Sona exclaimed. "By your logic, if I say yes that means I do have one but if I say no I would still have one! That doesn't make sense!"

"I will take that as an agreement!"

"No! No agreement!"

Serafall's eyes turned into stars somehow, most likely due to a spell. Sona refused to accept the idea that 'Eyes really do turn into stars if you're excited! Anime told me that So-tan!' that Serafall kept spouting at her before. If she did, she feared for whatever remnants of sanity she had left. "Oh, this is amazing! Where's the camera?! WHY DO I NEVER HAVE THE CAMERA?! SIRZECHS-CHAN DO YOU HAVE A CAMERA?!"

"Why would I have a camera?" 'Sirzechs-chan' responded with more amusement than confusion in his tone as he looked upon the scene.

"Damn! Foiled again!" Serafall fumed.

"You can use my phone Leviathan-sama." Saji offered nervously.

"Saji!"

"What?! She's your sister and a _Satan!_ Why would I not offer to help her?!"

Serafall's eyes gleamed with a predatory light. "Your phone has a camera in it?"

"Uh, yeah. Most phones nowadays do."

"Awesome! Tsubaki-chan, you've been replaced as my favorite Peerage member."

"Wait, what?"

"Saji-chan! How do you use your phone?"

"Um, so you use this button to switch if you want to go from a taking normal picture to a self-picture, and you press this button when you want to take it."

"Got it! Now smile So-tan~"

"No! No picture and no smiling Onee-sama! Saji, take your phone back! We'll discuss your punishment later."

"What did I _do?!_ "

"And you, Onee-sama! There is no boyfriend, and there will _not_ be a boyfriend for a long time."

Serafall nodded in a manner that should have been reserved for enlightened sages and beings of near omniscient wisdom and an equal amount of patience. "Of course So-tan. Of course there isn't. Your sister believes you."

"Rrrrrgggghhh!" Sona nearly tore out her hair in rage.

"But if you had a boyfriend, that means future kids, and that means nieces and nephews for me!" Serafall chirped happily. "Of course that would only happen if you had… sex…"

Serafall's blue eyes glowed crimson with rage, the power of a Satan finally coming to the front. " _ **Bring me the infidel. No, he might be out of town.**_ " Serafall raised her hand, now glowing with a demonic blue. " _ **Sinking Japan is the most effective option.**_ "

"What the fu-?!"

"Onee-sama, no sinking Japan!"

Sirzechs watched the chaos flying around the room with amusement. Serafall worked her magic, thankfully not literally since he wasn't sure Japan would be able to take it if she did, yet again, able to take even the most serious situations and turn them into a comedious riot.

He idly wondered if the boy with the blonde hair, Genshirou Saji if he was right, ever noticed how Serafall's eyes was on him most of the time. Weighing her options against him, seeing his reactions to know if he was a spy or not, his loyalty to Sona, his psyche, how to best manipulate him when the time was right, the correct words to say to make him enraged and thus careless in the middle of a fight, how much he could control his emotions, if his rage would ever endanger Sona in the battlefield, how his personality matched up to Vritra's personality, seeing how he reacted to touch, ascertaining if there was any information missing from his file about past trauma, and more.

He'd seen it multiple times before, every member of Sona's peerage had went through the same treatment after all, but it still left him in slight awe every time. Sure, he might have been able to overpower and defeat Serafall, but she was _terrifying_ to face as an opponent. Give her less than three minutes and she would be able to understand you more than you understood herself.

He might have been the Father of Lies, but Serafall was the one that could make you do what she wants and make you believe that you both wanted to do it and thought of it yourself.

"Serafall-sama is pretty terrifying isn't she?" Rias asked him quietly.

He turned to his sister, pleased and surprised that she could pick up what Serafall was doing also. Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been. It's far easier to tell what's going on when you're looking at the chaos from a third person point of view rather than being in the middle of the abnormality that was Serafall. It was even easier when you took into account that Rias had seen the same thing happening multiple times.

"Yes she is." Sirzechs agreed. "She is a Satan after all."

Rias turned to him, an emotion akin to amusement glittering in her eyes. "You can't really say that it's because she's a Satan. Or are you going to say you're an exception Nii-san?"

Sirzechs himself had trouble identifying the emotion rumbling in his chest. It was paradoxical combination of emotions, he realized. Delight that Rias didn't find him scary, pride in how she didn't fall for the same trap so many others did in trying to handle a problem out of her capabilities, disappointment that she was still underestimating the abilities of people, slightly wounded on the thought that she found _Falbium of all people_ scarier than him, but mostly fear.

What, Sirzechs thought, would Rias think if she saw _that_? Sirzechs smiled a bitter smile, wondering why he was thinking about it when he knew the answer already. 'Monster.' She would say, disgust and horror evident in her tone. He could imagine her expression already. He didn't blame her either, he would do the same thing to anyone else.

Even with his power, Sirzechs would be the first to admit that multiple things in the world scared him. The idea of anything harming Rias, Milikas, Grayfia, or any other relatives of his would send rage through his entire body, and he damn well knew that if that happened he would kill the person in question or die trying. However it was the idea of him killing them by his own power that scared him. No, scared was too light of a word. He didn't think a word had been created yet to describe the sheer horror and revulsion he had at that prospect.

Even the storm of emotions coursing through him, however, didn't shatter the mask he rarely removed. He had far too much practice in using it for something as simple as emotions to send cracks through his facade.

"Aaaah." Sirzechs sighed. "To think that one day I'd be found less scary than that layabout. How the mighty have fallen." He pretended to think for a minute before coming to a sudden realization."Then all I have to do is be scary right? And there was always one thing that scared you as a kid…"

Rias arched her eyebrows, confused. She then paled and started slowly backing up. She started to laugh nervously before saying, "You don't mean… _that_ right Nii-san?"

Sirzechs let out a grin in response, one that held a malicious undertone. "That's right." He started moving his arm as if it was a snake with twenty different genetic defects. "Satan… smiling snake!"

He pounced towards Rias like a Catholic priest towards an eight year old boy, while the metaphorical eight year old in question screamed and tried escaping as the metaphorical Catholic Priest, ironic considering his rather… unholy family line, started chasing her around the table.

"Get away!" She screamed.

"Rias~" Sirzechs crooned, evil practically oozing out of every molecule of his body. The Gods of Old, beings powerful enough to vaporize the Solar System by glaring a bit too hard, would have turned and fled in front of such maliciousness.

"Stop!"

"I wi **ll tic** **k** _ **le y**_ _ **o**_ _ **u!**_ " Sirzechs roared in response as he bounded across the room, chasing his sister around the tables like a game of tag that came straight from hell.

Saji just slammed his head against the wall, once, twice, three times. He then slammed his head _through_ the wall. He then just kept it there, too exasperated to do anything else.

Fucking great. Leviathan was a Magical Girl and Lucifer was a sis-con. He could work with this. He could… work with this.

God, agh son of a bitch! _Satan_ damn it. Satan damn the Satans. Fuck, that doesn't even make sense!

He swore to Go- _Satan_ , it was like he was in a half assed harem, with it being written by an author who had their hand around their dick more than the actual novel they were writing.

Fuck, what were the other Satans going to be? He had a, no scratch that, _two_ sis-cons out four. Maybe the other two were also sis-cons? But one was a Magical Girl so… maybe a tsundere?

Oh for the love of all that is good, please don't let one of the Satans be a yandere. He didn't know if he could continue living if that was true, or at least not without severe suicidal tendencies and depression.

* * *

Honestly if they were any other situation, and she meant _any_ other, she'd snap at Kalawarner shaking in constant ecstasy. It was pathetic, she was practically orgasming every three seconds and soaking the floor beneath her with her juices.

However exceptional circumstances lead to exceptional events, and the leader of the Grigori visiting a small Japanese town at the word of two winged Fallen wasn't exactly a once in every century event. Hell, it wasn't even a once in every millenium.

Black hair with a spice of gold bangs that nearly seemed to be floating in the air. Dressed in a brown trenchcoat with black highlights and gray slacks, along with designer black shoes shined to a glowing black. Underneath the trench coat, which _somehow_ worked for him, was a black undershirt with a red line crossing over it from his left shoulder to right waist. On his neck was a silver necklace adorned with a large ruby and littered with emeralds and sapphires, all of which seemed to emit a slight bit of light.

Azazel has crossed over into the town of Kuoh.

"A man who is capable of completely disguising his aura huh?" He muttered to himself, a glimmer of an emotion Raynare couldn't recognize flashing through his eyes. He then cracked a grin. "Oh. Ohohohoh! Issei Hyoudou huh? He might be able to actually help me with _that_. Interesting!"

Even while Raynare was bowing to Azazel she shuddered, though due to a reason different than Kalawarner in the back. Azazel's love for Sacred Gears, and his nature for dissecting both the wielders and the Gears themselves, were well documented though the information on the Gear research itself was rather… carefully guarded. Enough so that the time Kokabiel tried to bust through on a dare only to receive enough lethal wounds and scars that Ten-Winged angel nearly died.

He was never the same after that, and the words "Rubber Chickens" would cause the man to go into catatonic shock before causing him to shed literal tears. Though Raynare had never seen it herself, she had heard that the expression on his face when he heard it should only be reserved for those who had seen bloodshed even worse than what had happened during the War.

Normal Fallen Angels had violent flashbacks to the Great War. Kokabiel had PTSD over a children's play toy.

It was largely agreed upon that he had the worse traumatic memories.

Azazel was later heard to say that he was lucky to have only went through the first out of ten round of traps. It was unsure _who_ exactly overheard him saying that, or if Azazel was the one who sent out the rumors himself, but the general gist was gotten. Never try to break into the Azazel's research facility. The chances of you coming back were slim, and the chances of you coming back with a will to live was nonexistent.

Something sopping wet lapped at the back of Raynare's feet and, as distracted as she was pitying Kokabiel, she looked down. She couldn't tell what it was, all she knew that it absolutely soaked the carpet beneath her. No, seriously. It wasn't like it was just one glass of water had spilled onto the floor, it was more akin to a small waterfall being somewhere near and was absolutely... soaking… the floor.

No, that wasn't possible. That was less possible than the idea of a person able to completely mask their magical aura. She was literally _two meters_ behind her.

She knew it was a bad idea, a terrible idea even, but it was as if a divine force placed it's hand upon her and forced her to look behind. And by God, she wished she didn't.

And there was Kalawarner in the back, barely holding back another moan as she orgasmed once again, soaking the carpet beneath her and causing a literal _stream_ of juices to flow to Raynare and Azazel.

Covering over two meters.

Along with branching off multiple times.

 _While it was being constantly absorbed by the carpet._

Raynare stared in disbelief as Kalawarner shuddered once again, dropping even _more_ juice onto the floor and slowly increasing the size and length of the stream. It was like… like… she didn't even _know_. She'd say like a car crash but this was sick and twisted on at least a half dozen more levels.

"I've lived for over two millennia, nearing two and half now." Azazel started out gravely, as if he was delivering a sermon at a funeral. "I've borne witness to many horrific, weird, and crazy acts and even did quite a few. I've flipped the bird to God himself, had sex with Aphrodite, nearly got killed by Ares for having sex with Aphrodite, created multiple artificial Sacred Gears, and found out approximately three hundred and twenty four uses of rubber ducks and chickens in psychological warfare-"

Son of a bitch, it was true! Azazel really did spend multiple years for the express purpose of torturing people's mental state through rubber chickens!

… Wait, what did he say about artificial Sacred Gears?

"So you can understand my seriousness when I ask this." Azazel continued, too befuddled by Kalawarner to notice Raynare's confused expression. " _How?_ How did you essentially flood the room with orgasms? No seriously, _Aphrodite_ couldn't have done that and she has more fetishes than everybody in the porn industry… _combined_. And I was only here for five minutes. That's not- that shouldn't be- we're in a church!" Azazel said desperately, trying to grasp at straws to make the situation at hand make even the slightest bit of sense.

"… _Yes_." Kalawarner moaned out, no doubt trying for it to sound salacious and sexy. It sounded like a ten year old girl that just got suplexed after inhaling a few tanks of helium.

Azazel backed up nervously. Raynare thought it was the right move, all things considered. It didn't matter how powerful you were, you do not fuck with a woman that managed to cover over two meters of carpet in the sheer number of orgasms she had performed.

"… Right." Azazel coughed out nervously. "So… I'm just gonna go… scout the area. Because I'm new here. And definitely not because the one time I stuck my dick in a Yandere it took a sub-species user of Twilight Healing to heal it back to normal. Yeah." Seriously, was the woman trying to reenact Genesis using only cum as a both a metaphorical and literal 'fuck you' to dead daddy dearest?

"Can I come?" Raynare asked, trying to keep her tone level even as she could hear a note of desperation in her voice. "I mean… you're going to need someone who knows the general area of Kuoh."

"Of course!" Azazel said, no doubt taking pity on his underling. Either that or he was just at the point of accepting anything and everything in order to get away from Kalawarner. "Of course, let's go right now!"

"Raynare hasn't seen everything in the city. I could also be helpful." Dohnaseek said, pouncing on the opportunity to escape.

"And I'm stuck with her I'm assuming." Mittelt said with a sigh after Azazel agreed. She gazed out the window as if in a trance. Raynare followed her gaze to the rather large tree outside, wondering what was so special about it, enough so that she was distracted from the horrors that were occurring within the very room they were in.

"If only I had some nice rope." Mittelt sighed dreamily. "It would be pretty easy to wrap it around one of the branches. I could form a tight noose and just…"

Aaaaannnnnddddd now Raynare wished she didn't know. Suicide was hardly the worst thing she had ever seen, but if she could pretend that this entire situation had never happened she felt that she would be happier as a whole.

" _Azazel-sama…"_ Kalawarner moaned as she collapsed on the floor, her body convulsing in the sheer amount of pleasure flowing through her body.

Azazel apparently agreed with Raynare if the way he just grabbed her around the waist with one hand. Dohnaseek tried to keep up, though he wasn't able to compare all that much to the speed of Azazel, no matter how much the Grigori leader slowed himself down so Dohnaseek wouldn't lose them.

Wait.

Azazel-sama… was holding _her_.

Wrapping his arm around her _waist_ and pulling her towards his stomach which was- _Oh my God_ \- harder than… anything she had ever truly witnessed. It was as if God himself had taken a chisel to stone and then sculpted the perfect being in and of itself. One that could even compare to him, in looks if not power.

Oh wait, he essentially had.

Raynare could feel heat rising to her cheeks in a mad rush, a tightness in her chest that only seemed to settle even more deeply as time passed. She felt like screaming, whether it was in irritation at the feelings she was experiencing or joy at her current situation even she didn't know, but she made sure to bite her lip to prevent that. She didn't know what Azazel would think of that, but she felt, quite reasonable, that he got more than enough fangirls.

"Now." Azazel begun, shifting the language he spoke to Sanskrit even as Raynare flinched and looked up at his heterochromatic eyes of sky blue and deep violet. Unlike the look from before this one was cold, colder than any blizzard. It was as if the Fallen leader had just removed a mask before replacing it with another, the amount of time between each expression was far too short for any emotion to simply dull down.

...Wait, didn't Azazel have just pure violet eyes and not heterochromatic ones?

"You're going to tell me everything you know about Hyoudou Issei. From school rumors to the exact times he went to the bathroom. And, most importantly, if he had ever said, referred, or even hinted a single thing about something known as the Khaos Brigade, the near war with the Greeks a few years ago, or the assassination of an exorcist named Touji Shidou and his entire team of elite exorcists."

* * *

"Cao Cao!"

To say Cao Cao was mildly surprised by the sight of the normally calm Georg running in a panic would be similar to calling Ophis somewhat strong. It just didn't work without someone nearby bursting into incredulous laughter.

He was even more surprised when he saw Georg's frazzled look. The man was meticulous as all hell when it came to his looks, stating that 'a man is only as worthy as his first impression.' If he had his clothes as crumpled as it was, along with wet in some spots as if he had just taken a shower and pulled them on as an afterthought, something was terribly wrong. He idly wondered what had caused such worry in one of his oldest allies and one of the few he would call friend.

"It's the Red Dragon Emperor! He's been found again!"

And now he was worried right alongside him. "The Red Dragon Emperor? Are you sure Georg?!"

Georg nodded his head frantically. "Vali reported to us that Azazel left to the town of Kuoh for an unknown reason. He doesn't suspect anything, but it has to be! It has to be him! I know it! I can _feel_ it!" Georg clutched his right arm in pain, while he shuddered in both fear and anticipation. "Please Cao Cao! You know I'm right!"

"I know no such thing." Cao Cao cut Georg off sharply. "All I know is that you _think_ that the Red Dragon Emperor was found in Kuoh simply because Azazel left to go there. Just like the last six times a powerful being goes to a town and you thought the Red Dragon Emperor was there because 'power attracts power attracts power.'"

"What else can it be?!" Georg demanded sharply, smashing his left hand into the wall and leaving a small dent. Cao Cao gazed approvingly at the damage, apparently Georg had been training his own physical strength without magic as he had told him to. "We know that Kuoh was the city where Shidou Touji lost his arm, we know that he had a link to the Red Dragon Emperor, we even know that Azazel has just flown there. What possible other reason would the leader of the Grigori come to some random town in the middle of Japan?!"

"What about scouting out the territory for the upcoming peace treaty between the Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels Vali told us. We can't just assume that the Red Dragon Emperor because Azazel happened to be there. If we hunt him, we need to be absolutely sure and we need to plan. We can't afford to be careless when dealing with him, not like last time."

Cao Cao's voice softened for a moment. "… Do you still have the nightmares?"

Georg hesitated for a moment before he slowly nodded, as if in embarrassment. "They had left for a while, but recently they've been coming back."

Cao Cao nodded in understanding and sympathy. Georg, he knew, had an absurd amount of pain tolerance, one that could even match up to him. But the meeting five years ago between Georg, Heracles, and the Red Dragon Emperor had left Georg with his mind and body shattered beyond any feasible repair. He was completely unresponsive to external stimuli, and the damage done to his body was so severe it was a wonder he was still alive at all.

Both eyes, legs, and arms were ripped out along with the stomach sliced open enough to have the organs literally dropping out. They, too, were littered a massive amount of scars, enough so that they had more wounds than outer covering.

He didn't have a single clue how Georg had lived that, and didn't quite care at the time either. He had to improvise a large amount with Jeanne's Blade Blacksmith and use an extensive amount of the Phoenix Tears he had at his disposal. Even then, it wasn't enough to fully heal him, the life giving liquid renowned throughout every mythos incapable of healing the damage done to the mind even as it restored the body.

Another thing that Cao Cao found intriguing. Even Phoenix Tears shouldn't be able to restore Georg's body to full health as well as it did, at least not as fast. He'd seen them in use for those who every healer under the sun gave up on, and never had it healed such grievous wounds with such celerity.

It was only later that he had figured out that whoever had nearly kill Georg had placed a constant curse on him, one that couldn't be removed by any Holy Magic that any of them knew.

Or, though it had nearly killed the wielder of Dimension Lost after using the Tears, it would be far more accurate to call it a 'blessing' rather than a curse. He wasn't quite sure if the Red Dragon Emperor had consciously allowed Georg to live with that power, but he doubted it. After all, considering the state the man was in after the battle, he was sure that the Emperor had been aiming to inflict pain rather than kill. He wanted Georg to suffer. Cao Cao, in turn, wanted the opposite and set out on his quest to find a way to heal his mental state.

However, in his attempt to fully heal his old friend and regain Dimension Lost for the Khaos Brigade, even Cao Cao would admit he went to rather… vile contacts and equally vile lengths.

The True Longinus wielder's normally calm and controlled face twisted into one of such great rage that those who saw it would later claim with absolute certainty that even the Heavenly Dragons would have fled before it.

Diodora Astaroth… Cao Cao wouldn't call himself sadistic by any measures, but one day he would plunge his Sacred Gear into that Devil, blessing his unholy insides with pure _light_ and record his screams. Then he would play that recording every night before he went to bed, the Devil's screams of incomprehensible pain singing him to fitful sleep.

And.

It.

Would.

Be.

 _ **Glorious.**_

"Cao Cao!" Georg's shout snapped the leader of the Hero Faction out of his anger, bringing him back to the present from what he would make sure was the future. "What do we do? We know the Red Dragon Emperor is in Kuoh, it's our chance to strike!"

"..." Cao Cao was silent for a minute as he pondered on what to do. "We do nothing for now." Cao Cao decided, and, seeing the spark of rage flickering through Georg's eyes, hastily added on to his statement. "We don't know for sure that the wielder of the Boosted Gear is in Kuoh. However, if he is, do you really think a commotion wouldn't be caused by Azazel and the Devils located there in a confrontation of some kind? Once it happens we will know immediately. Then you may have your revenge Georg. However, there is no need to out ourselves before it is needed."

"And don't forget about Azazel being there." Cao Cao continued, his gaze sharp and commanding. "There is a reason why after the deal with Heaven Azazel was thought to be closing in on World Destroying level, whether it be over exaggerated rumors or not."

Georg sulked for a minute before turning around and walking away, soon teleporting himself to another part of the base.

Cao Cao casted a long gaze to the spot where Georg had teleported before letting out a sigh. Georg was a very intellectual, calm, and collected person. However even just _mentioning_ the Red Dragon Emperor in any form and he would get pumped up on more adrenaline and battle frenzy than even Vali would. _Vali_. Cao Cao's Sacred Gear could literally create miracles, once the requirements were met, and even he wouldn't be able replicate a feat such as that

"… Kuoh huh?" Cao Cao wondered out loud, tasting the word. It sounded unimpressive, a boring name for an equally boring city. Hardly a place for a potential God killing force to be living in.

Though he would have to keep an eye on the city anyways. For Georg, if not for the Hero faction as a whole. Who knows, maybe Dimension Lost's wielder wasn't imagining things and they would get a lead for the first time. Worst case scenario was that nothing would happen and a short amount of time would be wasted.

Best case? … Well then, it would appear as if the Khaos Brigade would have finally found one of their nuisances. He was sure Vali would be rather happy with the news of his rival finally being found.

* * *

'This… was surprisingly fun.' They went to the movies, shopped for a few things in the mall, ate in a nice restaurant, and just chatted quite a bit, with Yuuma trying to inquire into his home life while he just gave vague answers with a hint of truth in them in order to sell his lies.

Issei had to admit, he was not expecting the date with 'Amano Yuuma', or whoever she actually was, to be enjoyable. Especially with the knowledge that she was either spying on him or trying to kill him at the end of this.

Maybe he should have expected it, this was a Fallen Angel that most likely lived for decades if not centuries. There would be no doubt that she had picked up on acting skills in the meanwhile, especially if she participated in assassinations.

In contrast he was a seventeen year old boy, not even a full adult just yet. He would not be able to truly fool a being of her caliber. Thankfully he didn't really need to.

Her acting was good enough to allow him to truly enjoy the fake date, his entire body language showing that he was both carefree and happy. Obviously he was happy about how the entire day had went, a first date was always a momentous and rather happy occasion even if both sides didn't really consider this one.

Carefree? She wasn't a threat to him. He didn't really have anything to fear.

"Ah, Issei senpai?"

He smiled as he faced back towards Amano, the face of a loving and contented boyfriend plastering itself over his thoughts. "Yes Yuuma-chan?"

She fidgeted shyly for a few seconds. "... Can we go for a walk through the park?" She asked, head bowing slightly in an effort to try and cover the adorable blush spreading across her features.

"Of course! Anything for you Yuuma-chan. Do you want to head out now?" He replied jovially, nodding towards the small park. It wasn't anything much, but it had a very nice trail and a good amount of nature. It was essentially made for couples, with an out of the way part under Sakura trees in case new couples wanted to make out.

It was also a rather nice place for an assassinations, especially if a series of runes or glyphs were placed nearby to interfere in nearby electronic devices and distract any nonmagical beings. Issei somewhat doubted the builder intended for that though.

An assassination is definitely far more likely now than simple reconnaissance. She should be no threat but just in case…

' _I am dead. The dead are dust.'_

It was as if the world itself was fidgeting nervously, holding and releasing its breath in small gasps as a strong torrent of wind struck them both. Yuuma glared at the peaceful night sky irritably, wondering where the sudden wind had come from, while Issei's eyes had visibly darkened from their usual hazel brown to near black pits.

' **Hoh? Already using that technique partner?'** Ddraig asked, though he seemed more amused than insulted when he received no response. **'Of course. This isn't a fight. It's a show of dominance. Hardly worth the time to even gaze at.'**

 _ **[Boost!]**_

The both of them walked through the winding trail, him increasing his pace slightly as the distance seemed to widen between them. He smirked just a bit at her not noticing that he needed to nearly jog to keep up with her sedate and slow pace.

Yuuma turned back around to face him, and Issei smiled. A genuine smile, not a fake one, a smile responding to how they were finally getting to the true purpose of tonight.

"Issei-senpai, can you do me this one favor?" Yuuma begged, jutting out her lower lip in a contradictingly seductive yet childishly innocent look. "Please?"

' _The dust is Earth.'_

"I already told you this Yuuma-chan! Any girlfriend of mine doesn't need to ask for if I can do a favor. Just tell me, and I would do it."

"Good." She smiled relieved. "Then Issei-senpai…"

"Would you please die for me?"

' _The Earth is Divine.'_

Amano Yuuma summoned a single- just one? He felt rather insulted- light spear, lighting up the suddenly darker evening. Her entire form shimmered like a dissipating mirage even as she leapt back into the air and threw it, black wings starting to emerge from her back.

' _Therefore…'_

The light spear was thrown at him with pinpoint accuracy. No doubt that if it hit him in the head it would automatically kill. Issei wasn't exactly known for his durability. He was a human after all, and they went squish far easier than the supernatural being in front of him. No matter how low she was on the ladder for the Grigori, in the end she was a higher being compared to any normal human.

However, he wasn't a normal human.

"I Am A _**God.**_ " He voiced out loud, intoning the aria with a strange power and force.

Then the light spear stopped in midair. There was no grinding to a halt, no slowed descent. It simply was spiraling through the air one moment, then wasn't the next. A complete stop of all motion.

Issei could see Yuuma frown in confusion, and a slight hint of trepidation entering her stance. It was understandable after all, a 'mere' human had completely nullified her attack. While it most likely wasn't expected, it didn't really matter to her either. She could easily summon dozens of the same spears.

Foolish. She was both overestimating herself, and underestimating him. A mistake she would be killed for.

Issei stepped forward and calmly walked headfirst into the spear of light.

* * *

Raynare was… surprised wouldn't be the right word. Anxious would be more accurate, but not quite right either.

Azazel-sama had warned her about this, to not underestimate him. But he was just a human! He was nothing in comparison to the Fallen Angels, to herself! How does it matter that managed to stop one mere light spear? She could still kill him easily!

She lifted her hand, gathering the magic within her body to summon another weapon of light when she froze in shock when Issei started to walk forward into the light spear.

"That's… what?"

Her vision shattered as she stared uncomprehendingly at the scene right before her. Issei had walked directly in the path of the light spear… and the spear _bent_ to avoid hitting him as he passed. Yet it remained straight somehow.

It was bending and yet not bending, a paradox as reality itself broke and tried frantically to stitch itself up while failing in all the important ways. She could literally _see_ space warping around him, as if a singularity had sprouted into existence suddenly and the world bent in agony.

She tried to dismiss the light spear that she had created, but couldn't. The link that she held to the Holy Magic was, severed somehow. That wasn't possible! It was her magic, she should be having absolute control over it!

"Don't bother trying." The boy, the _monster_ , in front of her spoke dryly. "This power is not yours to claim anymore. It might not be mine, but it's not yours either. Someone on your level couldn't hope to try and destroy that weapon now. It would take something close to a Seraph or a God at this point."

The monster sedately, nonchalantly as if she wasn't even a _threat_ , strolled towards her. She snarled, half in rage half in panic, before she summoned nearly every bit of her magic up to the surface. The night shone with a blazing light as two dozen spears were summoned and summarily launched.

"That won't work."

He disappeared. It wasn't any form of teleportation she had ever seen before. There was no flare up of magic, no magical glyphs, nothing to signify what he was about to do. All of her light spears, composed out of most the magic that she had, soared off through the trees surrounding them.

One hand roughly grabbed her head from behind and pulled her back before slamming her into the ground, with only her literally inhuman durability preventing her skull from shattering. If she was able to look at a birds eye view of the entire trail, she would have been able to see an extremely small crater formed from the impact, roughly three inches in diameter. Not enough damage to scrape a supernatural being's skin, much less nearly shatter one's skull.

She coughed up blood as her nose shattered, though was able to ignore the pain thanks to the _unbridled wrath_ flowing within her veins.

She opened her right hand as she was once again lifted up, light flowing up her arm and solidifying into another lance. Except this time she did something a bit different than usual.

She forced enough magic to form three of the same lances into the one weapon, causing it to vibrate violently and essentially forming a makeshift buzz saw. She grit her teeth as she struggled to maintain the spear.

One of the main problems of this version of the lance was that it was far more volatile and there was no point in using it when most of the time the normal and far less costly version of the weapon. However when you needed that extra rip and tear, it could be one of your best friends.

Raynare, skull still essentially surgically attached to Issei's hand, used her inhuman flexibility to swing her legs forward and lift it into the air, causing her to nearly flip upwards. She swung her light chainsaw at the legs of the human, intent on ripping off the legs he stood on. If he couldn't move then he would be easier to kill than a paralyzed infant.

When the makeshift buzzsaw shattered against his leg Raynare could feel a part of her soul shatter with it.

"Nice try." He praised, like an impressed school teacher to a struggling child. "The half-flip was particularly impressive. I didn't even think a body could actually bend that way, supernatural or not. Must be particularly amazing in bed."

Raynare hated many things over the life she had led. Yet, she didn't think she ever found a man as infuriating as the guy in front of her.

"So." He tugged on her hair painfully, though she didn't let her expression change even slightly. "May I have the pleasure of knowing exactly who am I speaking to? You can't expect me to believe that your actual name is Amano Yuuma."

"Go deepthroat your mother's twelve foot dildo, you crimson bandanna loving fucker." She spat out, glaring at him. "It looks like a torn up curtain that was tossed out by your deadbeat father over a decade ago. Oh wait, no wonder you wear it. You have something in common with it." To her rage, he laughed instead of getting mad or irritated. She knew it was dumb to provoke the Sacred Gear wielder- for whatever else could he be? It's not like a normal human could defeat a Fallen Angel- when he literally had her life in his hands.

"Feisty." He chuckled out. "No worries though, I have a way to fix that."

She felt the hand on her head shudder for just a second before she sighed, a dreamy sigh full of love and joy.

What was she worrying about before? Something about Hyoudou-sama… but that was ridiculous. Hyoudou-sama would never harm her. She loved him, and he loved her back.

She could feel her instincts screaming when that thought popped in her mind but dismissed it.

"Now, dismiss your illusion and tell me what your real name is, Amano-chan. Also tell me what your plan for me was." Issei commanded, a dangerous smirk on his face.

She sighed in happiness as Issei's hand dropped from her hair to cradle her face. She dismissed the illusion surrounding her, the slight haze of her form fading away to reveal her true form.

"My name is Raynare." She responded joyfully, taking extreme delight in the widening of her Master's face and the tightening in his pants as he saw her true form for the first time. "The plan was to-"

Issei seemed to be distracted by something else, shifting away his gaze from her to his left arm. He stumbled back, releasing her as he seemed to prepare for an attack. His eyes widened in surprise as he was lifted into the air and hurled into the sky. A loud boom occurred and only later, after she recovered from her inebriated state, would she recognize that as the sound of the sound barrier being broken.

"The Red Dragon Emperor huh? I wasn't expecting that. Good job identifying him Fafnir, that'll help quite a bit." A voice behind her whimsically said. She turned around in shock as Azazel flew near her, looking as if he was just bored.

Or, he would have, if his hair wasn't rippling upwards into the air and his left eye wasn't shining an icy blue, letting out a trail of light whenever he even moved his head slightly.

"Azazel… sama." Raynare fumbled, feeling numb in the sheer aura of power being unleashed. She was able to bring herself together though. "Why did you attack Hyoudou-sama?!"

He in turn arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Hyoudou-sama?" He studied her for a second before he lifted up a single hand towards her. Green and white light emitted from it while the same glow appeared around Raynare herself before it faded out.

His other eyebrow lifted in surprise as nothing happened. "It's not a magical form of mental manipulation? So not hypnosis, nor any… wait, shit. That'll be difficult to deal with." He sighed in irritation. "Hopefully it's not nearly as strong as Aphrodite's. There might not be any way of coming back from that."

He quickly teleported in front of Raynare, to her shock. No, not teleportation. He just moved far faster than she could see, and considering her eyes were able to comprehend speed even faster than Mach 2, it only spoke of how fast the Grigori Leader truly was.

"Sorry, I'm going to have to put you to sleep for a bit." Azazel said as he put a hand to her forehead. Before she could even widen her eyes or protest Raynare was knocked out with Azazel seemingly not doing a single thing to her.

"Dohnaseek!" Azazel barked out, even as the male Fallen Angel finally arrived and dropped to the ground, sweating heavily at the speeds he had forced himself to go to. "Carry Raynare to the church and ensure that nothing happens to her."

Not even bothering to question what he was going to do, Dohnaseek quickly nodded and picked up Raynare and flapped his wings, carrying them into the sky and sped off.

"Good." He muttered. "Now time to deal with our dear overgrown lizard here." Turning around, Azazel was greeted with the sight of exactly _why_ Dohnaseek had ran like a kicked dog.

Crimson ran like a river of blood over Issei's body, encasing him like a protective cocoon. Four whips of a scarlet liquid dug into the ground, somehow resisting the force of his own power, all coming off the suit of liquid armour that Issei wore. The fluid, no matter what gravity had to say about it, didn't drop down from his armour though. Instead, it flowed, coalescing around his entire body as if he exerted a gravity enough to overpower the world's. There was an aura of power to him, a light glow that seemed to be a combination of silver and blue, contrasting to the entire Blood Red theme he had going.

"Hoh? That's interesting." It wasn't just an aura of power that Issei was releasing, but at the surface level of both the whips and the main suit of armour there was a light haze of gas being released, blending in with the aura and thus disguising it.

He could also see emeralds dancing within the body of the armour, breaking apart and flowing chaotically and randomly throughout the liquid.

… No, that wasn't true. There was a pattern. It flowed randomly throughout the limbs of the armour, but it all ended up at the same place. Near the top of the forehead. Which just happened to be called… the crown. How conceited. This brat, this boy that hasn't even reached adulthood yet, was declaring himself a king? No, not even a king, but an Emperor? What arrogance.

That wasn't that important in the end though.

The most important thing, Azazel felt, was the bright blue plasma spread across his chest, somewhat akin to a V with multiple branches and looking similar to the streamlined and powerful wings of a Dragon. It allowed the entirety of the the armour, if he could even call it that, to emit a somewhat radiant light.

"Heh. Hehehehahahahaha!" Azazel laughed in delight and surprise. "You have all four states of matter within your Balance Breaker?! That's amazing! An everchanging, everflowing, untouchable yet tangential point of being!"

" _ **Balance Breaker: Paradoxical Rend."**_

"Damn, that actually sounds pretty coo- oh shit!" Azazel hastily ducked under a punch rocketing above his head, surprised by Issei suddenly teleporting in front of him. It was all for naught as part of the armour dropped from Issei's arm and shifted into a sword before flying at Azazel.

' _Motherfu-'_ Azazel's blue left eye shifted into a radiant gold as a similar color barrier warped into existence right before the blade. The moment the liquid flew through the barrier it lost it's cohesiveness and splattered across Azazel's face rather than stabbing him. He still wasn't sure it could have actually hurt him, but the Sekiryuutei's sub-species power was still unknown. He couldn't take any chances, especially considering how he was able to use the Boosted Gear without releasing it before using his Balance Breaker.

Of course, Azazel wished he took some more precautions when the unidentifiable liquid on his face spontaneously caught fire. Unprepared for it, Azazel stumbled back in pain before rocketing back from a punch to the gut, destroying a few trees in the process.

Blindly, and somehow ignoring that his face was on fire, Azazel unleashed all six pairs of his wings and flew into the sky. The night sky suddenly seemed, bleaker, somehow, as if all the light remaining in it was suddenly drained away.

Of course, the unconscious and terrifying effect was ruined when Azazel got doused by a lake's worth of water to the face. There was even a fish in it, slapping him across the cheeks.

"Was the fish necessary Sera? I thought we were in good terms." Azazel asked, coughing out the water that got into his mouth. He wiped the water out of his eyes in order to glare at the convention going Satan.

"But it was funny Aza-chan!" Serafall pouted while somehow stamping the air beneath her angrily.

"I agree. It was rather humorous." A voice from Azazel's side said with a slight chuckle, causing the Governor to shift his annoyed gaze from Serafall to Sirzechs.

"Wow. That hurt me. Right here. I'm not sure if I can go on." Azazel placed a hand over his heart dramatically. "Woo is me."

"Woe is me, actually." Sirzechs added on, quickly correcting Azazel.

The Fallen Angel in question threw his arms up. "Great. Now we see why you were chosen for the seat of Lucifer. You being powerful and charismatic my fine ass, it's because the leader of the Devils could only be the worst and cruelest being in existence. A grammar Nazi, or quote Nazi, or whatever it is. Perfect."

"You three need to get a room, I swear. I could cut the sexual tension with a wet noodle. Or one of your dicks, whatever is thinner, though I'm betting five on the latter." A voice complained from behind them.

Unbothered by the insult, Azazel let out a lazy smile towards the unmasked Issei, who was suddenly flying along with them through a pair of wings that looked more like gas than solid. "I doubt Sirzechs would be up for that. He values life far too much." He said, before a pondering look crossed his face. "Though maybe if we invite Grayfia…"

"Even then that's not going to happen." Serafall chirped happily. "I'm saving myself for sisterly love!"

"And we're moving on!" Sirzechs said hastily, slightly disturbed by Serafall's statement even as he knew that she was joking. He hoped. It was fifty fifty really. "I'm surprised you didn't try to attack us from behind while we were unprepared."

"And I take offense that you think I'm naive enough to believe that you left yourself undefended. Or was I supposed to not take notice of the hundreds of icicles hidden in the sky and the light spears Azazel left behind me while he was supposedly stumbling from being set on fire?" Issei asked skeptically.

Rather than be surprised at the traps being found, Sirzechs laughed. "No, I suppose not. Though do we really have to fight? It'd be far more reasonable to sit down and have some tea or wine."

"You guys already sent an assassin after me!"

"Are you saying you're weak enough for a two winged Fallen Angel to kill?" Sirzechs asked playfully, playing to the Pride within every Dragon based Sacred Gear wielder. Issei growled in return, knowing Sirzechs had got him there.

"Before that-" Azazel said, cutting off Issei's response. "I want to ask some questions. Do you happen to know a man named Shidou Touji?" Out of the corner of his eye Azazel could see the look on both Serafall and Sirzechs sharpen just slightly.

Issei flinched, surprised at the mention of the man he had considered a second father. It was all the info Azazel needed.

"I see that you do." Azazel sighed. "I don't suppose you would be considerate enough to tell what we want without a vain fight?"

"You can't afford a fight here." Issei responded stiffly. "I know their type. The princesses will throw a tantrum if they find that their territory was destroyed in a fight between us." He was right, unfortunately for them. Sirzechs and Serafall would rip off their own heads before harming one of their sisters. It was obvious that the two Satans had no doubt teleported their kin back Hell, but even still, though even one of them would be enough to deal with Issei, there would no doubt be massive colateral. Such a thing couldn't be avoided in a fight like this.

None of them cared about the human lives that would be destroyed, but the town itself was important to Rias and Sona. Therefore, it was important to both Sirzechs and Serafall.

What Issei had failed to considered was that, if he could easily identify such a weakness, then the Satans themselves would obviously consider that weakness too.

Sirzechs let out a sigh while Serafall fell into a slightly more serious attitude.

… Slightly. Azazel wasn't sure if the Old Man would have to manufacture multiple miracles in order for Serafall to get serious, or if he would use those miracles in a blind panic to prevent whatever would cause the Maou to get serious.

Sirzechs snapped his fingers once, and a huge orange glyph materialized between all four of the fighters.

Issei didn't bother with being surprised and instead flew higher and backwards, somehow teleporting multiple times and getting exponentially farther from the other three. It wasn't enough, however. The burnt orange glyph spun wildly and brightened the night, expanding so it covered the entirety of Kuoh. There was a flash of light, one bright enough to drown out the stars in the sky, before… nothing.

Issei opened his eyes after he covered them from the flash, blinking a few times to once again adjust. Nothing had changed.

It was still night time. They were still in Kuoh. Honestly, the only thing that changed was that…

"Impossible." Issei breathed out, turning towards Sirzechs and Serafall in awe even while he dodged some icicles. "You created a replica of Kuoh city, just for our fight?"

There was nobody there. The buildings were the same, the streetlights, even the cars, everything was replicated in perfect detail. Except, Issei couldn't detect a single person in the vicinity, no matter how far he stretched his senses. There wasn't a single human in this place they had somehow created.

He considered for a moment the possibility that they had just somehow masked his ability to sense life forms, but then discarded it. They already had him at a disadvantage with a three on one, and while taking away his ability to sense their movements is quite a huge disadvantage, there wasn't really any point. The territory would still be destroyed anyways, the power of all the fighters too large to be able to reasonable contain it.

In Issei's mind the situation was this. The pros were that there were three of them as he was better at dealing with groups than a one on one fight, along with the fact that they weren't trying to kill him which would limit quite a few of their options.

Cons? All three of the fighters against him were some of the strongest beings in the entire world and the odds were against him when facing only one of them, though he doubted that they were anywhere close to even the top 20. Facing three of them was essentially a death sentence to most supernatural beings in the world. And worse, alive is a rather broad genre. A man with no limbs was still able to talk after all.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, _fuck!_ He liked a challenge, not a straight up obliteration! This was bullshit! All of this! This battle craze, this feeling of power and control within him, he thought he had left it all behind four years ago. Why didn't he run when he saw supernatural beings literally a half step away from being genuine Gods themselves coming from him?!

… Oh yeah. The same reason why Ddraig and Albion didn't run when they were facing God even though they couldn't have won.

Fucking Pride. Fucking battle boners, and fucking adrenaline rushes. He thought he was done with all this, that he had learned his lesson. But no, he was still arrogant, he still couldn't control his pride, he still loved his own power, he still rushed into battle half-fucking-cocked. The only difference was that he at least planned a bit on how to fight them.

All that work in trying to avoid the supernatural worked for years and then, just because he was bored and itching for a fight even if it wouldn't be much of one, he decided to accept Raynare on the date request. What was he _thinking?!_

He was such an idiot, and now he was going to pay for that.

He didn't bother flinching when a storm, for that was the only way he could describe it, of icicles and light spears descended from the Heavens. He instead raised a single finger, just one, and pointed it at the incoming armada of deadly weaponry. He felt a rush of power within him as a tiny orb of pure magic formed at his fingertips, spiralling violently in place and quick enough to be comparable to the fastest of racecars.

 _ **[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]**_

In the space of ten seconds sixteen boosts occurred. Yet, rather than simply doubling the power every boost, the power along with the number of the tiny orbs multiplied by far more. At the end there were _literally tens of thousands_ of the magical attack, and Issei let out a wild and bloodlusting grin.

" **Legion!"** Issei roared out as the powerful magic shot out to the sky, intercepting each and every one of the deadly projectiles in kind, and exceeding them. They might have had quality but quantity had a quality of it's own, his attacks destroying the projectiles by a ratio of a hundred to one. Where hundreds of spears and icicles had existed before only dust remained.

Well, no, that was a lie. Issei's magic still existed, even as it was reduced from thousands to mere dozens. They shot forward with purpose, only increasing in speed as time went one, and only slightly losing speed as they spread out and quickly maneuvered to flank Sirzechs, Azazel, and Serafall.

None of them bothered to move a muscle. Two dark crimson orbs flickered into life, nearly as large as them, and danced to the tune of Lucifer's magic, quickly intercepting and eliminating all of the attacks with severe prejudice.

Issei's grin didn't falter a bit at seeing his attack being useless against the ridiculously powerful beings. It was to be expected after all, if they had gone down without him busting out his more powerful techniques he'd be feeling blue balled for years to come. If his entire disguise was going to fall apart, he would make sure it would be destroyed in the most majestic way possible: a beautiful fight against opponents far stronger than himself.

" **So you're finally enjoying yourself once again, Partner. It has been a while since you've been in a fight against such odds. Though, I don't think you've ever been in a situation as bad as this before."**

"Oh yeah." Issei agreed with the Heavenly Dragon without a single complaint. "I am completely and utterly _fucked_. The possibility of winning this fight is so low it might as well not exist."

It showed far too much teeth to be a smile. It showed far too much bloodlust and adoration and ecstaticness and so much _more_ to be a simple smile.

"Isn't this _fun?!"_

* * *

 **And that's the chapter.**

… **. FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKK, that was FAR longer than anticipated! Setting up the lore behind everything is a pain in the ass, even if it is fun to write.**

 **I don't know if this chapter is good or not. Hopefully it is.**

 **Revealed some of the past. Buffed Azazel. Buffed Issei. Buffed Old Man Jenkins- the true mastermind behind the entire thing!- and probably did some more stuff.**

 **Yeah, Georg has a hate boner for Issei longer than multiple skyscrapers. Like, I'm not saying Vali would allow Georg to cut in front of the line in challenging him, but he'll give it like three seconds of thought. More than… literally everybody else.**

 **Also yeah, Azazel spent years of research- actual years of research unlike Salem. The guy got dropped from Liquid faster than light speed after his tweet on Melee being dropped from Evo. It was hilarious- on figuring out how to psychologically torment people using rubber chickens. Understandable too.**

 **Have you seen their eyes?!** _ **They have no soul!**_

 **Right, that's over with.**

 **I'm not gonna say sorry for being late because honestly? Real life got massively fucked up recently. Not gonna say anything more than that, but know I'm only writing because humans really are a creature of habit and I need to distract myself. Same reason for no Omake, I can't think of anything funny enough.**

 **Once again, you didn't come here to read me bitching about my life.**

 **Please Review. Thanks.**

 **Just, really tired. Sorry about that at least. Kinda drained because of emotions.**

 **Bye.**


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